Dealing with the New Host
by hostclubmanager17
Summary: Jacklyn Prout has been the Host Club's musician for a little over seven months now, and she's fitting in pretty well. She has good grades, good friends, and a good guy to crush on. But when her neighbor crash lands into the club on the first day of school... well, it's never boring at the Ouran Host Club, now is it? T for swearing and kissing. Sequel to Dealing with the New Girl
1. Starting Today, You Are A Host

**Aaaaaand it's back! So much for taking work off of my plate! HAHAHA! I'm excited for this!**

 **As there are no reviewers to thank explicitly here, I'm just gonna do a blanket sweep and thank all the readers who have finished Dealing with the New Girl and came right back here to continue the story! Hope you enjoy it!**

 **Disclaimer: I only own Jacklyn!**

* * *

Starting Today, You are a Host!

Pushing the doors open with a bright smile, Jacklyn lifted a hand in greeting, "Hey, guys! Sorry for the wai-" She stopped dead in her tracks, eyes widening at the scene before her.

There were broken shards scattered across the floor to the left, all of them a beautiful blue color that she _hoped_ wasn't what she thought it was.

The hosts were standing in a line next to the mess, staring up at her.

And lying down at the boy's feet was someone passed out on the floor.

"What… _happened?_ "

Kyoya was the first to answer, tilting a head to acknowledge the mess around the room, "This young man came in here looking for a place to study, and in the process accidently shattered the vase we were contributing to the school auction."

Jacklyn winced, letting the doors finally shut behind her as the shock wore off. That vase was supposed to be their start-of-term fundraiser for the club, as they'd receive 50% of the selling price. That was a lot of money being flushed down the drain. "We probably should've kept it out of the main room until the day of the auction… this is partially on us."

"And so, as President," Tamaki continued, not listening, "I have decreed that Fujioka-san will be the Host Club's Dog until he pays off the starting price of the vase."

Jacklyn blinked, "Did… you just say his name was…"

At that exact moment, Haruhi seemed to come out of her stupor, groggily pushing herself up onto her arm. Shaking the bangs out of her eyes, she looked around the room. Jacklyn watched as her neighbor appeared to shrink before her eyes… until she was spotted.

Gasping, Haruhi scrambled to her feet and all but launched herself at Jacklyn, "Oh gosh! Jacklyn-senpai! Thank goodness!"

Jacklyn's arms automatically came up to hug the shorter girl, gently petting the back of Haruhi's head as she haphazardly told her the story. In honesty, Jacklyn couldn't blame the poor girl for reacting in such a way, considering she had done something similar the first time she met the boys...

Said boys that were staring at the two in confusion, most of them with a puppy head-tilt.

"Haruhi is my neighbor…" she glanced at Kyoya before offering a small smirk, " _He's_ one of the first people I met in Japan."

Her crush seems to understand, because his returning smirk had an almost playful edge to it, "Well… that'll certainly make things a little more interesting."

*\/*

Jacklyn's well practiced fingers danced along the keys, the song floating pleasantly just below the conversations in the room. She didn't have any guests today, but that was just fine by her. She wasn't in the mood to host.

As the song came to a close, she quickly lowered the lid over the keys and glanced over her shoulder. Haruhi wasn't back yet.

Nibbling at her bottom lip, the brunette tried to focus on the homework she had laid out to the side, but not even math seemed all that appealing to her right now. She was worried for her neighbor… who knew how long it would take for her to repay an _8,000,000 yen debt!_ Jacklyn felt faint just thinking about it.

"Something on your mind?"

"You can say that. Have you finished calculating the loss yet?"

"Afraid not. I'd like to work on it with you sometime this week, when we both have the time."

"Well, let me know when you settle on a time."

Kyoya sat down on the other side of the piano bench, looking out at the room as a whole for a few moments before returning his attention to the girl. She hoped she wasn't blushing at the close proximity. Her body had a knack for betraying her like that. Jacklyn's left leg began bouncing like crazy.

"Jacklyn, please answer this next question honestly, but try to keep your voice down."

She swallowed, fingers now tangling together on her lap, "Um… go ahead."

"Is Haruhi female?"

Jacklyn blinked, then let out a long breath of air. That was _not_ what she had been expecting, and for that she was glad, "Biologically speaking, yes. As well as in preferred pronouns. As far as I'm aware, Haruhi currently identifies as nonbinary, but prefers female pronouns because that's what she grew up with. But it would probably make her feel better if you asked once the truth comes out."

"Interesting."

"Yeah, you said that earlier." The two exchanged a smile before Jacklyn nodded towards the rest of the room as a whole, "Are you gonna tell anyone?"

Kyoya hesitated for a moment too long.

"You sadistic little-"

"Let's just see how this all plays out. It's bound to be entertaining, after all."

"Truth." Jacklyn watched their blond classmate for a few moments, "I bet you a school lunch from the cafeteria that he screams bloody murder when he finds out."

Kyoya hummed, "That's hardly fair… but very well. I'll raise you a homemade lunch that he's the last one in the club to discover the truth. And it won't be due to intuition."

"Ugh… Fine." They shook on it, and Jacklyn allowed herself one smile last at the boy before quickly letting go, "Now run along to your guests, Mr. Vice President. I've got homework to do."

Kyoya pretended to ponder the command before the front doors suddenly opened. The two watched as another wave of guests arrived for their hosting times. A familiar head of bright red hair was among them.

"Here comes more trouble."

"Be careful that no one else hears you say that… but you aren't wrong." And with that, Kyoya walked off towards his own guests. Jacklyn pretended not to notice how at least one of the new 1st year guests was glaring at her and turned back to her homework. Hopefully in a few days she'd win them over just like the other guests…

The doors opened again, and this time when Jacklyn looked up she was pleased to recognize the person walking in. Standing up, she made her way over to Haruhi, who looked like she wanted to be anywhere but there. "Hey, Haruhi."

"Hi." The brunette sighed, looking around the room, "I did your guy's shopping. What now?"

Jacklyn eyed the brown bag, taking note of the many coffee tins inside. Something about them seemed… odd to her, but she wasn't going to call Haruhi out for it if she could help it. "If you could take those to the kitchen, that would be wonderful! I'll teach you how to make the tea the way these guys like it in a bit, alright?"

"Thanks." Despite the single-worded response, Jacklyn was happy to see her neighbor relaxing ever so slightly. "Which way?"

Jacklyn hummed, quickly slipping to Haruhi's side, "Come on, I'll walk you." _That way you have some back up,_ she added silently. After all, they had to pass by Tamaki's table.

Sure enough, as soon as they got close enough-

"Ah! Speak of the devil! Thanks for doing the shopping, Little Piglet! Did you get everything on our list?"

Jacklyn raised an eyebrow, but didn't comment on the name calling. There were too many new guests staring at her to do so… Even still, she pressed her hand against Haruhi's back to continue steering them forward, "Yeah, we're just taking them to the kitchen now."

"Wait!" They stopped. Tamaki's eyes had widened as he stared intently at the bag in Haruhi's arms, "What's that?"

After a few seconds of trying to figure out what he meant, Jacklyn plucked one of the cans out of the bag and walked it over to her classmate. Tamaki intently twisted the canister around in his hands to look it over, asking again what it was.

"Just what it looks like… it's coffee."

"Instant coffee," Jacklyn corrected, taking one of the canisters out to look at herself. She finally realized what looked so strange about them. It wasn't the coffee they usually drank at the club. Jacklyn had always been instructed to buy the unground beans before. Oh no...

She looked up at the crowd that had grown around Tamaki's table, most all of them eyeing the container with curiosity.

"Whoa! I've heard of this stuff before! You just add hot water!"

"Poor people don't even have enough time to grind their own coffee beans?"

Jacklyn rolled her eyes at the ignorance, ready to just pluck the container out of Tamaki's hand and take everything back to the store and be done with it already. But then a hand touched the small of her back and she nearly jumped out of her skin, Kyoya pressing close as to read the container over her shoulder, "Commoners are pretty smart."

Jacklyn didn't know if she was supposed to respond, so she simply remained silent as the rest of the club made their own comments. Thankfully, Haruhi _hadn't_ lost her ability to speak.

"Just give it back and I'll go buy something else. Excuse me for not buying you expensive coffee…"

"No. I… I want to try it."

Jacklyn blinked out of her stupor, her surprise at Tamaki's statement enough to momentarily forget how close she was standing next to her crush. "Tamaki, you don't have to-" She shifted backwards just as her friend stood up, finding herself pressed completely against Kyoya.

"I will drink this coffee!"

The crowd around them broke out into applause, which gave Jacklyn plenty of cover to hastily jump away from Kyoya, mutter an apology, then grab Haruhi's paper bag and run off to the kitchen with it. Haruhi tilted her head as her neighbor disappeared with the bag of groceries, save for the container still in Tamaki's hand. She looked between the closed kitchen doors and the back of the dark haired boy who was following after the rest of the group. _Hmm…_

"Haruhi! Make some of this commoner's coffee for us to try!"

Rolling her eyes, she went to go after them when another voice stopped her in her tracks.

"Oh, Tamaki, now you're taking the joke too far. Your pallett won't be able to stomach that crap he bought, there's no need to subject yourself to that because of a stupid mistake." Haruhi's stomach dropped to her toes, eyes wide as the girl suddenly looked up, "Oops, sorry! I was talking to myself."

"Haruhi?"

"Coming!" And with that she booked it over to the window. Better by the idiotic blond than _this_ chick.

*\/*

The coffee making didn't take very long thankfully. Just long enough for Jacklyn to come back out of the kitchen and for Haruhi to realize how ridiculous the girls at the school were. Well… she'd had her doubts before, but now there was no argument.

Probably recognizing the look on her face, Jacklyn gave her an encouraging smile before jerking her head away from the crowd, "Do you want a little tour of the club?"

"Will my head explode from the stupidity?"

"It's possible, but unlikely."

Haruhi gave the blond another glance before shrugging, "Can't be worse than watching this."

"Uh… _suuure._ " Jacklyn smiled as Haruhi gave a little laugh before the two walked away. "So I'm not sure what you've already figured out, but we as a club cater to the female population of Ouran Academy using conversation, flirtation, and other forms of entertainment. Most guests have a favorite host or host combination and see them regularly after school. With me so far?"

"Yeah."

"Any questions?"

Haruhi turned to look at her neighbor, eyes narrowing a little, "A few… do you have any guests?"

Jacklyn smiled, "Well, I'm not a host or hostess in the strictest sense. I'm just the musician… but sometimes I'll get some guests at my couch who like to talk or make song requests." She checked the clock tower just outside the window as Haruhi processed that information. _I still have a good twenty minutes left before I have to play again. Plenty of time._

"Okay… is it normal for guests to develop romantic feelings for their host?"

"... Ayanokoji-senpai said something to you didn't she?" Spotting the way her neighbor winced, Jacklyn offered a consoling hand to the shoulder, "Don't take what she says to heart. I don't think she much likes anyone. As for your question, it really depends on the girl. A lot of the guests are certainly enamoured by the hosts and their aesthetic appearances, but as for true romantic feelings? Well, that's a little dangerous around here, considering how many guests the hosts have."

Haruhi tilted her head, glancing around them before leaning in closer, " _Is that why you haven't told anyone that you like Kyoya-senpai?_ "

Jacklyn's heart stopped dead in her chest.

"What?"

"It's pretty obvious. No one else would've run away like that after physical contact with someone unless-"

"Okay! Okay, I get it!" Jacklyn's cheeks were aflame, and she hoped no one was watching them, "Look… yeah, I do. A couple of the hosts know, but other than that it's a _secret!_ Don't you dare tell anyone!"

"Not even-"

" _Especially not him._ "

Haruhi blinked before offering a shrug, "Fine. Let's continue with the tour."

Jacklyn was glad for the distraction, letting Haruhi watch the twins as they performed their "brotherly-love" act. Something about a nightmare Kaoru had? Jacklyn didn't quite understand why Hikaru had chosen that particular story, but didn't say anything. What's the saying? If it's not broken, don't fix it.

" _What are they so excited about? I don't get it._ "

" _I don't get it, either. Come on._ "

Next was Honey and Mori's table. Poor Honey had taken a quick nap after all the excitement from earlier and was struggling to wake up. Jacklyn smiled fondly at the boy before feeling a tug on her arm.

"Is… is Honey-senpai really a high school student?"

"Yeah. 3rd year." Haruhi's head jerked back a bit, "I know it seems a little weird, but it's the truth. He's pretty smart, too. See how he sat down between the pillows instead of on top of them? It makes him look even shorter than usual, which triggers the 'cute' factor."

"Precisely." Jacklyn's heart began jack-hammering in her chest, "And with Mori-senpai's strong and silent nature, Honey-senpai appears even more childish in comparison." The brunette desperately hoped that Haruhi would keep her mouth _shut_ about what they had discussed earlier…

Thankfully, Honey had just spotted them and quickly launched himself across the room, squealing Haruhi's nickname before she even had a chance to address Kyoya. Jacklyn took a step back just as the small blond swung the two around, smiling at the cute scene.

"Jacklyn? You're still keeping an eye on time, yes?"

"Don't worry, Kyoya. I've got… fourteen minutes left. Besides, I don't have any guests, it being the first day of the new school year and all." She glanced around the ravenet, spotting yet another pair of glaring eyes, "How many new guests have asked why I'm here?"

"Only three, but it was the other guests who answered the questions. Don't forget how highly they think of you."

Jacklyn blushed just as Honey darted away, leaving his precious Usa-chan in Haruhi's arms. A quick nod from Kyoya reaffirmed that the short blond had figured it out. The brunette smiled. Her friend _was_ really smart…

"You'll notice that our club utilizes each man's unique characteristics in order to cater to our clients."

"Yeah, Jacklyn-senpai already gave me the rundown."

Kyoya raised an eyebrow, "Oh, she did now?" Jacklyn gave the boy a cheeky smile. "Wonderful. Then I can move straight to the important information."

"Oh, real nice." the brunette stuck out her tongue before walking off, "I'll be getting ready for the next song if you need me."

Kyoya smirked as she went, unaware of how Haruhi was staring intently at him. She had only known the boy for an hour at most, but already she could tell that he did _not_ usually tease like that. Which could only mean-

"In order to pay off your 8,000,000 yen debt with us," she gulped, finding herself pinned under the boy's icey gaze, "you will act as the Ouran Host Club's dog until you graduate. Oh, I'm sorry, I meant our errand boy."

Haruhi gaped at the boy as he continued on, "casually" mentioning his family's private police force and her lack of a passport. "How is that possible?"

"Hm? What's possible?"

"How could someone as cold as you have such strong feelings for Jacklyn-senpai?"

It was like she had hit the pause button on Kyoya's remote. The 2nd-year student's eyes had gone comically wide behind his glasses, and Haruhi would be hard pressed to find proof that he was still breathing. For a few moments nothing was said between the two.

"You're gonna have to work hard to pay off that debt, my little nerd~" Out of _nowhere_ Haruhi felt a cold breeze on her bare neck. Jolting, she rushed to the side in an attempt to put some much needed distance between herself at the club's "President". When she finished freaking out, she looked over to find that Kyoya had disappeared into thin air. _Where did he go?_

Tamaki interrupted her thoughts, "You know what you need? A makeover."

"A what?"

"Well, come on! How else are you going to get girls to look at you?"

Haruhi rolled her eyes, "And who said anything about wanting girls to look at me? You live in your world, and I'll stay in mine."

"What? That won't do! In order to learn to be a gentleman, the first order of business is to please the ladies. And that starts with appearance."

"Says who? _I_ don't care what people think when they look at me, or about how other people look. I'm no saint, but I don't actively try to stereotype people either based on appearance. What matters is what's on the inside."

There's a brief silence from the boy that gives Haruhi a chance to look around the room. She was still a little curious as to where the other boy had- "It's a cruel reality, isn't it? It's not often that God creates a perfect person such as myself, beautiful both inside and out!"

Haruhi watched as the blond continued on his tirade about beauty for another three seconds before walking away, quickly finding herself sitting on the piano bench next to her neighbor. Jacklyn gave her a glance before smiling, going back to rearranging her music sheets, "Tamaki's monologue getting boring?"

"There's a word for people like him… I just can't put my finger on it."

"Hey! Don't run away! How else will you learn?" Haruhi narrowed her eyes, glaring at the boy over Usa-chan's head. _I wish I could remember that word…_

Jacklyn did her best to ignore the beginnings of drama unfolding around her. It wasn't uncommon for Tamaki to succumb to dumb ideas, of course, but she didn't want to start taking bets on who would crack whom first between her classmate and her neighbor.

"Aha! Got it! You're obnoxious!" The brunette snorted, pressing a fist against her mouth to hold the laughter back. Not risking looking around at the blond's face, she merely patted Haruhi on the head. "I'm… sorry? Tamaki-senpai?"

 _Don't be, Haruhi. That was the funniest thing I've heard all day._ The twins seemed to agree, quickly coming over to offer their own congratulations to the newby.

Shifting a little, Jacklyn watched out of the corner of her eye as Haruhi stood up, slowly inching closer to the blond to apologize for the harsh words. She wasn't worried about her friend taking it to heart. Tamaki shedded criticism like a duck shedded water.

"Hey! I need those! Give them back!" At Haruhi's outburst Jacklyn turned around, ready to reprimand the boys and send them off before she had to play her next piece. She wasn't all that surprised to find that Hikaru had removed the girl's glasses, but what she hadn't expected was for all the host club boys to be staring at Haruhi's face. What were they looking at?

"Hikaru. Kaoru."

"Right, Sir!"

Jacklyn reached out a hand, "Hey, what's going- Guys!" She watched as Haruhi was dragged out of the music room. With two more snaps of his fingers, Tamaki was ordering Kyoya to call for a hair stylist and Mori to make a run for some contact lenses with Haruhi's prescription.

"Tamaki, what is going on?"

"Jacklyn and Honey-senpai! You… stay here."

"Tamaki-"

A hand gently touched her shoulder. "Just stay here for now, Jacklyn. We need you to play for the guests while the twins and Mori-senpai are gone. I promise everything will be explained once club activities are over with."

The brunette pouted a bit, then threw her hands in the air, shaking Kyoya's hand off her shoulder, "Fine! Don't tell me anything!" And with that, she sat down next to Honey on the piano bench and started playing her next piece. Thankfully she had picked a rather fast one.

*\/*

It wasn't until hosting hours had ended and all the guests went home that Tamaki called everyone to the changing rooms. He was acting oddly… cryptic whenever she tried to ask questions. The seven of them stood in a semi-circle around a particular room, from which Jacklyn heard someone shuffling around.

"Haruhi~ Are you dressed yet?"

"Um… Senpai? Are you really giving me this uniform?" Jacklyn blinked as her neighbor pulled the curtain aside, revealing a brand new look.

Tamaki practically fell over, "How cute! You're a pretty as a girl!" Jacklyn spotted the twins trying not to laugh just behind the 2nd year. _Huh, so they figured it out, too. That leaves two to go._

"Haru-chan, you look so good!"

"Yeah, you clean up nice."

"Without those glasses and grubby clothes-"

"-you might stand a chance with the ladies."

"Who knows, perhaps he'll draw in some customers?"

Jacklyn raised an eyebrow, knowing _exactly_ what Kyoya was trying to do just before it happened. Sure enough, once Tamaki heard the idea of Haruhi being a host, he made the announcement to train the brunette on how to "make it with the ladies".

Haruhi looked ready to fall over, "A host?"

"Absolutely! And your training begins-"

"Tomorrow." Jacklyn smiled as she pointed towards the exit, "You all have homework to do, and I think poor Haruhi needs some time to process this new information. Go on!"

With an exaggerated amount of groans and complaints, eventually the boys made their way out of the room, a fair number of them calling out goodbyes to Haruhi as well as the others before leaving.

After waving Kyoya out the door with a promise to work on the financials the next day, Jacklyn finally turned to her neighbor. The shorter brunette was slumped against the wall in defeat, tugging at the shirt sleeves of her new school uniform. "You alright?"

"Define alright. Jacklyn-senpai, how am I supposed to survive this club?"

A faint smile plays over the brunette's lips as she gathers up her school bag, "I dunno, Haruhi... you might just find yourself enjoying your time here."

"Doubt it."

"I suppose that's fair… I did too, my first day."

*\/*

Jacklyn peeked over her piano the next day, watching in silence as Haruhi sat with her first guests. A smile full of pride overcame the American as she watched the three girls request Haruhi after only a few minutes sitting with her. Looks like her neighbor was a natural at this hosting business.

Unfortunately…

Her eyes narrowed a bit when Tamaki made to introduce Haruhi and Ayanokoji. The blond didn't seem to be able to find the bad in people. And that did not bode well for Haruhi- There he goes.

Jacklyn quickly got to her feet and ran towards the commotion, "Tamaki! Put h- put him down!" The blond didn't listen, still overcome with joy from watching Haruhi say ' _hello_ '. Goodness, what had gotten _into_ the boy?

"Mori-senpai!" The ravenet looked up as Jacklyn frantically gestured at the Tamaki-death-hug, "Help!"

Without a word, the tall boy ran over and lifted the brunette straight out of Tamaki's arms, accidentally knocking the other boy back. Jacklyn sighed in relief. Haruhi had expressed a number of times how much she disliked overly-familiar touches from strangers. Thankfully Mori was holding her at arm's length… was still holding her, actually.

She gave the older boy's face a good long stare before nodding slightly. Knowing her friend was in good hands, the brunette happily made her way over to where Kyoya was sitting. She placed her hands over the journal pages, forcing the other boy to look up at her, "Well, it looks like part of your prediction came true. Nice job."

Kyoya glanced over at the other hosts for a moment before smirking, "It would appear so. We'll have to see how the rest of our predictions go in the future, but for now would you mind assisting me?"

"No problem."

From across the room Haruhi watched in disbelief as her neighbor sat down beside the VP, leaning over the armrest in order to read the journal before them, "How… does that even _work?_ "

"What?" Tamaki had finally stopped trying to kill her via hug, but the commotion had attracted the other hosts. They were looking between Haruhi and the two she was staring at.

Like light bulbs going off above their heads, the twins exclaimed in unison, "Oh! You mean _those_ two."

"Yeah, we're not sure how that happened either…"

"... but at this point we're more interested in pushing them _into_ it than figuring it out."

Haruhi narrowed her eyes, not quite trusting their words, "So… you _all_ know about it? And you're supportive?" All five of them nodded their heads, for once looking completely serious. As one, they looked at the two again. They had yet to notice their audience and were practically leaning against each other as they poured over the numbers before them.

"Hm. Well, that's enough of that." Tamaki clapped his hands together, "Back to your guests, everyone!"

*\/*

Fifteen minutes passed before Jacklyn and Kyoya resurfaced from the world of numbers, the American leaning backwards in her seat and rubbing at her forehead, "Damn… next time, let's just keep the priceless antiques in a padded locker until they need to go somewhere, alright?"

"You might be onto something there." Kyoya gave his friend a small smile before stretching out his back. His eyes gazed around the room, making sure everything was still in order when he suddenly paused, "Hang on… we're missing some people. Where are Tamaki and Haruhi?"

Jacklyn straightened up in her chair as well, looking around the room. Sure enough, the two were missing.

"Huh… that's weird. You go keep Tamaki's guests happy until he comes back and I'll go look for them." The two exchanged a nod before walking off.

Jacklyn pulled her phone out of the dress pocket she'd bribed the twins into sewing for her and started scrolling through her contacts. Haruhi might not have a cell phone yet, but Tamaki did. Just as she was about to press the call button, she spotted both missing members. They were out in the courtyard! Standing… in the fountain?

Squinting, pressing her forehead against the glass, Jacklyn's eyes drifted over the wet books and school bag. Most likely Haruhi's. Her eyes remained narrowed even as she pulled away from the window.

When the doors opened a few seconds later, Ayanokoji stopped just short of walking inside. She and Jacklyn stared at each other through the open doorway, faces blank of emotion.

"Is there something the matter, Prout-san?"

"As a matter of fact, there is. I was just on my way to go help Haruhi. All of her possessions fell into one of the school ponds." She curled her lips into a semblance of a smile, "Imagine that."

Ayanokoji wasn't meeting her eyes, but her voice was steady as she replied, "Is that so? How unfortunate. Well hopefully I can help cheer him up when he comes back. I'd like to request some time with him before hosting activities are over with."

"I'm sure he'll appreciate it. That'll help cut down some of his debt. You're being such a good help."

"Hm. Well, make sure his things are okay. As the only other… _middle_ class student here, you're the only one who will be able to empathize with such a loss."

Jacklyn didn't speak for a moment, waiting until Ayanokoji had just barely passed by her before answering, "You're right. Just as you, another rich student, will be able to empathize with Tamaki about how _valuable_ your time and public image is, and just how kind it was of Tamaki to use it helping Haruhi out with his misfortune."

And with that, she walked off. She wasn't surprised in the slightest to find that the remaining Host Club was watching her. She rubbed at her chest, which felt tight in an uncomfortable, yet familiar way. Mori and Honey reached her first, the taller handing her a cup of tea and the other hugging her waist tightly.

"Wow. Whatever you said to Princess Ayanokoji must've been good, Jacklyn-senpai…"

"I've never seen her look that thunderstruck before."

"She had it coming, and more." The brunette lowered her teacup, meeting everyone's gaze with as much seriousness as she could muster, "She threw Haruhi's belongings into the pond, probably out of jealousy. Tamaki and Haruhi are pulling them out as we speak and are probably on their way up. Ayanokoji-senpai also wants Haruhi to host her when she gets back up. You all _know_ she's going to try something."

Kyoya hummed, "Indeed. I think… that the Princess has exhausted her welcome here."

*12 minutes later*

Jacklyn wrung her hands together with nervous energy as she watched the two interact. In all her time at the Host Club, she had never seen such tense body language between a host and their guest before. She could only imagine what Ayanokoji was saying...

Oh no.

It was like watching a train wreck. Jacklyn's eyes widened as she saw the 3rd year go entirely stiff before reaching across the table. With a mighty jerk, she grabbed Haruhi's school jacket in a tight fist and pulled her forwards. Haruhi's body slammed into the table between them before it clattered to the side, all the glass breaking into a thousand pieces across the floor. Ayanokoji slid sideways out of her chair as she screamed, letting go of Haruhi just before the brunette could squish her.

"No, Haruhi, leave me alone! Somebody help he just attacked me!"

As one, every member of the host club stood up from their chairs, running towards the scene. For once Jacklyn found herself not able to really think the situation through, just knowing she needed to _help._

"Someone _do_ something! Teach this commoner a lesso-" The girl was cut off by her own gasp as water was dumped over the both of them. She tilted her head back in shock, staring at the Hitachiin twins now standing over them. Jacklyn quickly grabbed Haruhi by her shoulders and pulled her back so she was no longer hovering over the other girl.

Ayanokoji stared up at the musician, "Finally you see sense-"

"Don't even."

She stopped again, this time confused as Jacklyn planted herself between the two girls on the floor. Crossing her arms, she glared down at the older student. Too upset to even _speak._ But she was able to notice something she hadn't before… Ayanokoji was meeting her eyes. And she looked nervous.

That made her feel a little better.

Tamaki slowly walked over and pulled Ayanokoji off the floor, breaking the eye contact. Instantly the girl was groaning, pretending to be actually hurt.

"Oh, Tamaki… please, do something. Haruhi just _assaulted_ me."

"I do believe my friend just warned you about lying to us." The blond's eyes held no warmth as he regarded the soaking wet girl before him. "We know everything. How you threw Haruhi's bag into the pond, and just now attempted to fake an assault. By doing so, you not only attempted to smear his own name, but the names of every host in this club."

The red head looked distraught, "N-no! I would do no such thing! And besides, there's no proof… did the _American_ tell you I did it? Of course she would defend a member of her own kind-"

"I would trust Jacklyn with my life, Princess, a type of trust you clearly don't understand. And even though I would believe her even if she were the only witness, it was an obvious conclusion in an of itself. You simply aren't classy enough to be our guest. And we will not tolerate such distastefulness here. You may take your leave."

Jacklyn resisted the urge to smile and wave as the girl ran crying from the room. Despite everything the girl had done… being embarrassed in front of your crush and peers was something she still found herself understanding.

"Hm, now how are we to punish you, Haruhi, since it is your fault?"

Haruhi peeked out from behind Jacklyn's legs, "Fault? Of what?"

"Your quota is now 1,000 guests!"

Jacklyn abruptly held her hands out in front of her, "Whoa, whoa, whoa, pump the brakes there, Tamaki. Doesn't that punishment seem a little too much considering the crime? An extra 900 guests?"

"He lost us a guest, Jacklyn."

" _One_ guest. And a rather rude and selfish one at that."

"There still remains the principle of making every girl happy. And if Haruhi wasn't here, then she wouldn't have left."

Jacklyn raised an eyebrow, pretty sure than once Ayanokoji learned Tamaki wasn't meant to be hers and hers alone she would've run off regardless… but decided some battles weren't worth it. Besides, this way Haruhi would spend more time with her at the club. Which couldn't be all bad…

She lifted her hands, "Fine, do whatever you want, Mr. President." _So much for trusting me with his life._ Going to stand by Kyoya while Tamaki pulled Haruhi off the floor, she glanced down at the little bag he was now holding. Using a single finger she pulled it closer and peered inside. Kyoya's expression was one of amusement when she looked back up. "I take it the bet is still on?"

"It is."

"This technically qualifies as cheating, you do realize that?"

"You say that as if you're not about to win your own bet at the same time."

Jacklyn cracked a smile and moved to let Kyoya hand the bag off to a very wet Haruhi. Most of the other club members were exchanging glances… all except for Tamaki. She watched as the twins grew a matching pair of crooked smiles as Haruhi walked off to change.

Adopting similar pondering expressions, they wondered, "Does Haruhi know we have some towels he can dry off with?"

"Someone ought to go-"

"I'll get them."

The remaining hosts stood in their little circle as their guests trickled out of the room around them. The six of them didn't say a word, looking around the empty room and giving each other smiles as they waited.

And waited.

Aaaaand…

"AAAAAAHHHHH!"

With a nod from Kyoya everyone made their way to the changing rooms in the back. They got there just in time for Haruhi to step out of the same stall she had used earlier, only this time she was wearing the same dress Jacklyn had on. The Ouran uniform for girls.

Tamaki was gaping in shock at the girl as the others gathered around. Kyoya readjusted his glasses to hide his smile, "Well, isn't this an interesting development."

"Oh, yeah."

"Totally."

" _Complete_ surprise."

"Absolutely _flabbergasted._ "

Jacklyn glanced at the boy on her left, "So, just text me what you want in your lunch for tomorrow."

"I'll walk with you through the line tomorrow to pay for your lunch as well."

Haruhi raised an eyebrow at her neighbor, already making plans to interrogate her about that later on before smiling at the boy in front of her, "You know, it must be said… even though I thought you were kinda stuck-up earlier, you turned out to be a pretty cool guy, Senpai. Not many people at this school would've helped me at the pond. So, thanks."

Tamaki's face went redder than a stop sign. Kyoya leaned down and whispered, " _Now I could be wrong, but I think we may be witnessing the beginnings of love, here._ "

" _We'll see, Kyoya. We'll see._ " The two made eye contact for a split second before looking away again, both slightly red in the face as well. Across the way, the four other hosts were shaking their heads.

Of course they'd be blind to it. The rest of the club was comprised of idiots. Why should they be any different?

"Y'know, being a host and getting fussed over by a bunch of girls doesn't sound all the awful if you think about it. Most people would kill for a setup like that. And there are plenty worse ways to repay a debt." She paused and glanced at her neighbor, "Well, Jacklyn-senpai? Think I can pull it off?"

She received a bright grin in return, "Yeah… I think you've got it pretty well handled." At that, Haruhi began to laugh, the craziness of the day finally settling in. Jacklyn leaned against her classmate, "This is going to be… interesting."

Kyoya hummed, "I couldn't agree more."

* * *

 **AND IT'S DONE! First chapter! There's only gonna be 27 of these, so 26 to go and it'll be my first completed Ouran series! Holy cow am I excited for this book! I hope you are too!**

 **Please favorite, follow, and leave a review!**

 **See you next chapter!**


	2. The Job of a High School Host

**Hi, everyone! Here it comes… chapter two! Aaah! I managed to finish this the day before I head out to Japan! I'm so excited and proud!**

 **So, this story is by far the quickest of my writings to become "popular", and I hope I don't disappoint you all greatly! (It has come to my attention that I now have to make sure that I don't accidentally write these episodes like I wrote my BSF episodes OR like I'm currently writing my BSF: Manga episodes… jeez, this is getting difficult.)**

 **Thank you to Momochan77, queenglitch, mayfire21, AmbertheCat, and Dark Rose Charm for reviewing the last chapter of Dealing with the New Girl! And thank you again to Infernoinside, LadyAmazon, Momochan77, queenglitch, MediaMaster 263, fishy7073, AmbertheCat, darkangelynn5, Cookies16, Dark Rose Charm, SabrinaTeenagedB, tishtennis, M.v.j.M, HRHPrincessTricia, bootskitty328, Chi, and ktmyldy28 for reviewing the first chapter of my newest story! I hope you enjoy this second chapter just as much!**

 **Disclaimer: While it warms my heart that some of you believe I should own OHSHC, I'm afraid I am not that privileged. I do own Jacklyn, however, which is a consolation prize all on its own.**

* * *

The Job of a High School Host!

" _Mmm…_ "

Jacklyn forced herself to swallow. It was difficult, due to her throat being so tight, but she managed. Taking in a shaky breath, she lowered her gaze once more from the ceiling to the mirror.

In the reflection, she was wearing a traditional Balinese dress. The beautiful combination of colors and white floral patterns almost made the fabric a work of art rather than a piece of clothing. A large golden headdress and other golden jewelry waited behind her on the bench, the final pieces that would complete the ensemble.

But Jacklyn couldn't bring herself to put them on.

Fighting against the tears, she looked away from the mirror yet again. The outfit was _supposed_ to be pretty… but it didn't look right. In the instruction manual for how to put the dress on correctly, the models were gorgeous. Their hourglass figures the perfect ratio to compliment and accentuate the thick band of fabric that went around the waist. But on Jacklyn…

Her hands came up to the band. There was barely enough of the fabric to tie itself around Jacklyn's waist and not be in danger of falling off. Her muffin top was showing beneath it. How was that even possible when she wasn't wearing pants? She whimpered again, unable to stop staring at her flaws.

Had her shoulders always been that broad? And her waist? The size difference between them was barely the length of her pinkie! Her thighs were pressed against each other all the way down to her knees, the skirt tight around them. How was she supposed to walk in this? She'd have a horrible rash between her legs before the hour was out!

It went without saying that Jacklyn felt… well, chubby. Or chubbier than usual. And she felt horrible about feeling horrible about it. Her dad was a big guy, and he was happy with his life. It also wasn't like she'd ever been anything below a size ten. She'd never fit society's skinny standard before. Plus, the whole skinny and Photoshop trend was total B.S… so why was she suddenly so riddled with anxiety about her looks?

Because Kyoya won't find her remotely attractive like this?

Jacklyn shuffled away from the mirror, the difficulty she had in moving making it even harder to hold back her sobs. Collapsing on the bench, she struggled against the urge to rip the outfit off altogether. She couldn't stand to see herself in it, so how could anyone else? Everyone in the Host Club was slim and toned and conventionally beautiful, their bodies perfectly sculpted to fit society's expectations. They'd been recruited into the club for their looks.

Jacklyn got in on talent.

Because she didn't possess the other bit.

"Jacklyn? Are you alright in there? Have you finished getting dressed? The guests should be arriving soon, so it'd be best if everyone began preparing for the greeting."

She froze, sniffling cutting off. Of course it would be Kyoya who'd come get her. Because the universe couldn't give her a break, could it? But what now? What should she say? And above all… had Kyoya heard her crying? That would be hard to explain without airing all her dirty laundry out for him to see.

So she wasn't pretty. Big whoop. But damn if she'd be taken as shallow.

"I-I…" She cleared her throat, hating how she sounded so stuffed up. "I'm alright. I just… is there something else I can wear? This dress doesn't fit right."

Kyoya's voice changed instantly, confusion and concern the easiest emotions for Jacklyn to read. "Really? _That's odd…_ did I order the wrong size for you?"

"...I guess you could say that."

"What do you mean?"

Hands shaking and lip quivering, Jacklyn pushed herself back up to her feet. She had to use the wall, though. She couldn't bend very well at the waist in this outfit.

She bit her lip before shuffling forward. She didn't want to do this. Not even remotely. She didn't want to face Kyoya wearing this stupid thing… but she didn't have much of a choice. He'd just keep asking for clarification if she didn't.

Jacklyn pinched a bit of the curtain between her thumb and forefinger. Moving it to the side ever so slightly, she whispered through the small opening between it and the wall, "It doesn't… it doesn't fit me. It's too small."

"How is that possible?"

Jacklyn's breath caught. Kyoya sounded so close… he must be directly on the other side of the curtain. She gasped and took a frantic step back when she felt a hand grabbing the curtain from the other side.

"I was positive I got the correct measurements… would you mind if I took a look for myself? You aren't indecent, I hope?"

 _Please, no._

"No… I guess you can…"

Jacklyn looked down just as Kyoya pulled the curtain to the side. She couldn't look at him. Not directly. Instead, she stared intently at the floor. In her peripheral vision, she noticed that Kyoya was wearing a pair of brown baggy pants and brown sandals. Man, what she wouldn't give to be wearing pants as well.

"Ah, I see the problem."

Jacklyn winced.

"You must've missed a pin. Here, let me." And then Kyoya was right in front of her, his hands on her waist as he reached for something at the left side of her back and oh wow the tightness was already loosening up Jacklyn could unstick her legs from each other and _oh my god is Kyoya really shirtless right now?_

Face now hot enough to toast marshmallows, Jacklyn held completely still as her crush went on about adjusting her outfit. When he pulled back, she couldn't help but notice how the skirt fell a little looser around her legs, and the waist fabric was no longer trying to crush her lower ribs. He'd fixed it.

Kyoya looked her over and gave a sharp nod. "Yes, much better. I apologize, Jacklyn, for not offering assistance earlier. I had no idea they made the female cosplay more complicated than the male version… an oversight I will not repeat in the future, for your sake. Does it feel more comfortable now?"

"Well…" Jacklyn turned back to the mirror. While it was true that the fabric was sitting better on her waist and hips… all the other stuff that threw the image off was still there. Unfortunately, they weren't things that could be fixed with a few adjustments. They were a little more permanent. Regardless, she forced a smile. "Yeah, much! Thanks for your help, I might've died of embarrassment if I greeted the guests looking like that."

"I doubt it. Not many people would've realized there even was a problem with your outfit if your discomfort wasn't so obvious. You looked ready to cry out from the pain."

She did? Were her emotions that obvious? Did Kyoya already know about her feelings? Oh great… her anxiety wasn't going to let up for a while, now was it?

Seemingly oblivious to Jacklyn's internal struggle, Kyoya went over to the bench. "Now that your outfit is fixed, how do you feel about it? I must say, you look rather exquisite."

"... Wait, _what?_ "

"Here." Kyoya turned around, showing her the headdress and the jewelry now in his hands. "The jewelry is a must, I'm afraid, but the headdress you may leave behind if you so choose. As I understand, it can be very heavy and cumbersome for someone who hasn't practiced moving around with it before. And I'd imagine it would be embarrassing should this piece fall _onto_ the piano."

"I… If you really don't mind, I'll go without. Thank you… again."

"It really was no trouble." Kyoya set the headdress down before bringing the jewelry over. Jacklyn remained still as Kyoya carefully placed the necklace atop of her shoulders. It wasn't as heavy as she thought it would be, which made sense when he informed her it wasn't real gold. Same with the large earrings he gave her as well. At least he was so focused on correctly placing the jewelry he didn't notice how Jacklyn's eyes kept returning to his bare chest… or at least she hoped he didn't.

As the two finally wandered out of the dressing room, Jacklyn poking the earrings in, she couldn't help but go over the last few minutes again and again in the back of her mind, trying to discern their meaning. Kyoya wasn't… flirting, was he? Then again, even if he was it was likely he was simply getting ready for hosting hours. After all, flattery and physical contact were some of the key points to hosting. Smooth talking and casual conversations were one thing, but when it came down to it, the guests of the Host Club were there for flirting.

 _And since I don't flirt and I'm not here to be flirted with… I suppose that leaves me as the practice dummy._

It wasn't until she stood in her greeting pose that Jacklyn came to her senses enough to realize something was off.

"Uh… wait a second. Where's Haruhi?"

Hikaru, who stood to Jacklyn's right, glanced at her out of the corner of his eye. "You mean you don't know either?"

Kaoru added in, "You didn't say anything about it earlier… so we thought there must be a reason behind it."

"What? What do you mean? I'm not her secretary, I don't know her every move!"

"Hush! Jacklyn, you can explain later why you didn't tell us Haruhi was missing earlier, our guests are arriving."

"I didn't even-"

"Hush!"

Fighting to twist her sneer into a more acceptable smile, Jacklyn turned to face the door just in time for it to squeak open. A single student ran inside.

"Welcome~"

"Haruhi!"

Sure enough, Haruhi was standing just inside the room, looking fairly winded and like she wanted to be anywhere but there. After a few moments of silence between them, a toucan landed roughly on top of Haruhi's head. Jacklyn burst out laughing as the twins began to tease the other girl for her tardiness.

Haruhi pulled out her planner and began flipping through it, going on about how it was still early spring. Apparently she used props when she pulled out the sarcasm. Just one of the many reasons Jacklyn liked her so much.

"Oh, relax, Haruhi." Jacklyn walked over, waving the bird off. "It's just a cosplay day, no big deal. We do these from time to time. And you have to admit, the warm air does feel nice considering the cold weather recently."

Haruhi merely hummed, neither agreeing nor disagreeing. Whether she would've said more didn't matter, because Tamaki had launched into another one of his usual tirades. He slipped in some mentions of kotatsu tables, of course. Jacklyn would've tried to catch Kyoya's eye and share a silent laugh over that funny story he'd told her during their sleepover… if she wasn't trying to avoid openly staring at his bare chest.

 _Oh… how come Tamaki is the only one covering up, today?_

Deciding to leave Haruhi and Tamaki be for the moment, Jacklyn wandered off into the foliage after Mori-senpai and Honey-senpai. The pair ran around the room in a big circle, Honey on his cousin's shoulders and his hands skimming against the lowest hanging tree branches.

As Jacklyn settled in to watch the show, Haruhi was still getting chewed out for her tardiness and general aloof attitude towards the club.

"Do you have a problem with the way we run our club, Haruhi? Mind you, this setup would've been much more thorough if we hadn't run into a sudden eight million yen deficit."

Haruhi felt her chest seize up. _How does Jacklyn-senpai_ like _this guy? Did he slip her a love potion or something?_

Not one to take things lying down where she could help it, Haruhi eyed the outfits they were all wearing. "Well, not to be picky, but please don't tell me I have to dress up in something like what Jacklyn-senpai is wearing. As important as authenticity is for you boys, I'm afraid I'm not all that interested in being a dressup doll." _And neither is Jacklyn, as far as I'm aware._

Haruhi wasn't sure if she should feel proud or frightened by how her words finally managed to pry Kyoya's eyes away from his journal. The small, confident smile he'd been wearing had vanished.

With a snap, he closed the journal. "Due to your recent arrival and Jacklyn's pressing, we didn't order any clothes for you today. But from this point onwards, you will be required to participate in our cosplay days. On another note, please keep any opinions you have regarding Jacklyn's outfits to yourself unless they are the positive sort. Her anxiety tends to flare up when she steps out of her comfort zone like this, and being the only one in the female version of our cosplay doesn't help. Any attempts to worsen this reaction would be a poor way to repay her for everything she's done to ensure your enjoyment as a member of this club, I would think."

 _Woah…_ Haruhi had to take a step back. She must've really touched a nerve. So, Jacklyn had stood up for her at the club. Did that mean her punishment could've been more severe? And clearly, Kyoya had listened. He also seemed really defensive of Jacklyn's well-being, mental or otherwise.

 _Hmm… so Mister Cold-as-Ice has a soft spot after all. I guess Jacklyn-senpai's not a one-off crush in his mind. Is that a good or bad thing for her, though?_

Regardless, the way Kyoya was staring at her had Haruhi more than a little nervous. Maybe she needed to have a talk with Jacklyn-senpai about this little crush of hers… it seemed a somewhat dangerous. Before she could think on it for much longer, however, they were all called together at the center of the room to greet the incoming guests.

Hosting hours had begun.

*\/*

Jacklyn was paying more attention to the piano sheets than usual.

On cosplay days, she liked to play songs that could be matched up with the atmosphere. Disney didn't quite fit the bill, today. Moana perhaps came the closest, but Jacklyn didn't feel like risking it. So, thanks to Kyoya's forewarning, she'd been able to purchase a piano variation of traditional Indonesian music. She hoped it sounded nice to the guests… a little more peaceful than her usual songs.

But at the same time, that meant Jacklyn couldn't use her memory of the song and the lyrics for pacing. Tucked up next to her thigh was a metronome. The clicks were too quiet to be heard over the music, but the speaker buzzed with every vibration against her thigh. A little unconventional, but definitely handy.

Ending the piece after about five minutes, Jacklyn gave the applauding audience a nod of acknowledgement before shutting the metronome off.

"Excellent choice of ambiance today."

"Ah! Is this going to become a regular thing with you?" Jacklyn raised an eyebrow as Kyoya took a seat on the other side of her piano bench. "Just because one of my regular guests is halfway across the world right now doesn't mean you get to ignore your own."

"Hilarious." Kyoya reached behind him to shut the piano key lid before leaning back against the instrument. "I took time out of my busy schedule to ask you to perform at our upcoming dance and you greet me with an accusation?"

Jacklyn let the silence stretch for a few seconds before prompting, "Perform?"

"Of course. We'll likely have a similar set up as our last dance, though the orchestra has requested you join them for a full piece instead of a single duet this time. Will that be a problem?"

"Nope."

"Good. Other than that, you'll be free to dance and otherwise enjoy yourself at the party. We'll be holding a few dance practices for ourselves after hosting hours, but you've been exempt from them to practice with the orchestra."

"Promise you boys won't try to show me up with your fancy moves?"

"Well, I suppose that depends on which of us you dance with."

"Jacklyn!"

"We're here!"

Jacklyn sent a silent prayer/curse duo to whatever Being might control the universe that Akiko and Ena showed up when they did, the girls both interrupting her private time with Kyoya and saving her from attempting to continue the banter. She managed to untie her tongue and smile back at her guests.

"Hello!"

"Well, I do believe that's my cue." Kyoya stood, offering a smile to Jacklyn's newly arrived guests. "I'll take my leave and let Jacklyn attend to her guests. Enjoy yourselves. I'll speak more on the subject with you later, Jacklyn."

"Right." Jacklyn gave Kyoya a smile as he walked away before turning to her guests. They were smiling, too. But theirs were more sinister. Jacklyn's smile dropped. "Um… hey, guys."

Ena leaned forward first. "So… what were you and Ootori-san talking about just now?"

"And was that a lingering gaze on his chest I saw there?"

Jacklyn gulped. Oh, dear.

*Time Skip*

Haruhi ducked her way around another hosting table, keeping her distance as Hikaru and Kaoru began laying their act on _thick._ She wrinkled her nose, but was distracted by the screams of their guests. What was that about? They were acting more fangirl-y than usual.

"Showing some skin has proved to be popular with the ladies. It adds a layer of intimacy."

Haruhi eyed Kyoya skeptically. "So… are you the one who came up with this idea?" _And does your own bare chest have anything to do with the fact you've been hanging around Jacklyn-senpai all afternoon?_

"I have no decision making authority as the Vice President… every final decision rests with Tamaki. However… I suppose there's no harm in admitting I've slipped a few brochures and photo books onto his desk before… including a recent one featuring a tropical Bali paradise."

Haruhi had to force herself to not stare at her senpai in fear and awe. _So, he's the brains behind the operation. And he's manipulative to boot. That's it._

Spinning on her heel, Haruhi marched herself towards the piano. Jacklyn was just sending off a pair of giggling girls, looking a bit red in the face. Spotting Haruhi, she smiled and quickly gestured her over. "Oh, thank goodness! Someone who's not going to try to embarrass me!"

"We need to have a talk about your interest in Kyoya-senpai."

If possible, Jacklyn's face went redder. She jumped out of her seat and clapped her hands over Haruhi's mouth, shushing harshly as she went. "What the heck is your problem? Don't say that so loud!"

"Then stop being so obvious."

"I'm really glad that was muffled."

Haruhi puffed some warm breath against Jacklyn's hands until they were dropped, crossing her arms. But she kept her voice lowered as she continued, "I don't know what you see in him, Jacklyn-senpai. He's scary. And manipulative. Call me crazy, but those are some big red flags."

"Hmm… I suppose they would be." Jacklyn smiled and sat down, patting the bench beside her. "If I didn't know there was a fun-loving teddy bear hiding beneath it."

"That's a dangerous way to think…"

"I know." Jacklyn continued to pat the cushion until Haruhi finally sat down. "Listen, I understand what you're trying to say. A few months ago and I would've believed you. Agreed with you. Heck, I might've been the one to warn you. He… was a real jerk when we first met."

"He's still a jerk."

"Let me _finish._ As I was saying, he was a jerk to me for a long time before I finally got him to have fun, laugh, and tell me what was going on in his dumb teenage-boy brain. We talked stuff out, had opportunities to get closer, and now we're good friends."

Haruhi raised an eyebrow, but didn't comment on the lack of crush-talk in the conversation. "So, what you're saying is I have to wait for him to be nice?"

"Um… I guess you could put it like that. He really is a good friend, Haruhi. You should see all the sacrifices and hurdles he's gone through just to help Tamaki out with this club. Or when someone needs help studying. Or-"

"I get the picture. But I think I'm going to be waiting for a long time before he does something nice for me." _Kinda because I keep accidentally pissing him off, mostly with talking about you or his crush_ on _you..._

Jacklyn raised an eyebrow. "Maybe less time than you think. You've already been adopted into this friendship group."

"Oh no…"

"You're welcome." Jacklyn laughed as Haruhi slid off the piano bench and onto the floor. "Now, once you're done being dramatic, please go attend to your actual guests. Honestly, you're all going to get yourselves in trouble with the girls if you don't stop wasting time with me."

*Time Skip*

"Um, Tamaki? Aren't you supposed to be… y'know… _helping?_ " Jacklyn raised an eyebrow as her words were ignored. Straightening up from where she'd been leaning over Kyoya's shoulder, she tried again. "Hey! Earth to Tamaki!"

"Leave it be, Jacklyn-senpai. There's no use talking sense into him."

Kaoru snorted in agreement. "Honestly, I don't know what's gotten into him. I mean he should've expected Princess Kasuga to take a liking to Haruhi sooner or later."

"Yes… she's had the illness for a while, now. It was only a matter of time."

Spotting the curious expression on Haruhi's face, Jacklyn took pity and explained. "It's a phrase they made up. The 'illness' they're referring to is what they call "Host hopping disease". It's where a guest bounces from host to host every few weeks instead of settling with a favorite. Before you, Princess Kasuga was being hosted by Tamaki, and before him she sat with Kyoya, and so on and so forth. She's rotated through everyone a number of times, actually. Even me."

"So… is Tamaki-senpai upset that I took a guest from him?"

"ABSOLUTELY NOT!"

Kyoya paused in his typing as Jacklyn's hand tightened on his shoulder. Secretly glaring at Tamaki for startling her, Kyoya reached up and tapped at the back of Jacklyn's hand, silently asking for a second opinion on the budget he was constructing.

Which had nothing to do with how he could feel her body heat when she leaned over his shoulder like this. No. Not even at all.

"Hmm…" she hummed into his ear, "Looks doable. But maybe we should cut out the ice sculptures? If we get rid of them entirely we can save up on both their manufacturing and the cost of keeping them cool all night. Besides, the cold weather's finally starting to let up. Maybe we should be trying to keep our guests warm instead?"

Kyoya hummed in response before entering '0's into the excel spreadsheet, half listening to Tamaki's continued tantrum as Kyoya checked the new numbers. Arguably, without the ice sculptures, the whole endeavor seemed much more manageable…

"Daddy wants you to go back to the way you used to be!"

"Don't blow up my personal photos without asking!"

The host club looked on at the giant portrait of Haruhi's old school ID as the bickering continued. Jacklyn felt a small smile creep onto her face as she remembered the first time she met Haruhi. Long hair really made her look younger.

She raised a hand, waiting for Tamaki to stop shouting before asking, "So… let me get this straight. Tamaki doesn't like how the guests like Haruhi as a dude, even though she's not biologically a dude, and wants her to dress like a girl instead. Is that your argument, Tamaki?"

"Yes! Finally, someone under-"

"Au contraire, buddy. If that's the case, then how come you didn't have a problem when Kanako abandoned you for _me_ last November? Or the other guests of mine? Regardless of Haruhi's gender, lack thereof or perceived, whatever, her guests probably wouldn't care. Yeah, it'll be a bit of a surprise if and when the quote unquote "truth" comes out and some of our guests might end up questioning their sexuality, but in the end... I don't see any real big issues coming from this setup."

Tamaki was sputtering long before Jacklyn finished, screeching about not referring to Haruhi as a 'dude' and he didn't care about Kasuga's preference and how could Jacklyn not side with him and-

"MOMMA! Make Jacklyn and Haruhi stop using dirty boy words!"

"Um… who?"

"Based on club position, I assume he's referring to me."

Jacklyn slid up to Kyoya's side, lips traitorously twitching in the corners. "Hmm… gotta say "Momma", you sound like you want to be anywhere else in the world right about now."

"Astute deduction. You seem to be enjoying yourself."

"Should I not be?"

"Perhaps not… considering you've forgotten how cunning our President can be and how willing he is when a chance at revenge presents itself."

Jacklyn's smile disappeared in an instant for the second time that day. "Uh…"

"Definitely not." Tamaki was no longer crying. "A refined gentleman must know how to dance."

" _Oh no._ "

Now it was Kyoya's turn to internally laugh at the other's expense. To ensure his amusement, he looped an arm around Jacklyn's shoulders to keep her trapped in the room. Perhaps some might've thought that a little mean, but there really was no harm in what was coming… except, of course, to Jacklyn's sanity.

"-Or I'll tell the entire school that you're a girl, and knock you back down to errand boy."

Haruhi stared off into space, eyes glazed over as the gravity of the situation settled over her while Tamaki turned his now-piercing eyes to Jacklyn, who was struggling against Kyoya's hold as casually as she could. "And as for you, Miss "Innocent Questions", it's high time that you came to a party in a dress that was in the same price range as our guests. Therefore, tomorrow afternoon, once our after-school activities have finished, myself and the rest of the male host club will be taking you… _dress shopping._ "

"Noooo!" Jacklyn sank to her knees, head in her hands, before flopping to the side across Kyoya's feet. " _I hate shopping…_ "

"I do hope you've learned your lesson, Jacklyn."

"I hate you, all."

"Aww, c'mon, Jac-chan! It'll be fun!"

"Leave me alone to die."

Kyoya smiled down at the girl on the floor. He had to agree with Honey-senpai. This certainly would be fun. If not for Jacklyn, then definitely for him.

*\/*

Jacklyn found herself mock-waltzing down the hallway the following afternoon, traces of the song she'd just been practicing echoing in her head. She couldn't wait to see the other's faces when she showed up to their dance practice a full hour ahead of schedule. Normally she'd be an anxious mess about cutting down on practice time with the orchestra, but they had sounded pretty darn decent by the time the decorators kicked them out of the dance hall. So, no harm done.

Adding in a quick spin, she grabbed at the door handles for Music Room 3 only to be immediately knocked backwards by said doors opening in her face.

"Eep!"

"Oh, I'm sorry! Please excuse me, Jacklyn-san!"

Jacklyn rubbed at her arm as she watched Kanako Kasugazaki hightail it down the hallway, a handkerchief held to her mouth in an effort to stifle her sniffling.

"Jacklyn? Are you alright?"

She looked up at Kyoya, who was now standing in front of her with a hand outstretched. She took it, eyeing the boy warily. "Yeah, I'm fine. Which of you scared her off?"

"I think that was me…" Haruhi was frowning at the door, a yellow box in her arms. At once, Jacklyn understood what had happened.

She walked further into the room and placed a hand on Haruhi's shoulder. "Was it tea cups? Or…"

"Suzushima paid us a visit to deliver our newest shipment, though I believe it was Haruhi's pursuit of the subject that brought Princess Kasuga over the edge."

"Ah. Well, don't be too hard on yourself, Haruhi. You didn't know."

"Know what? Kyoya, Jacklyn, is there something that you didn't tell me?"

"Oh, we knew, too, Tama-chan!" Jacklyn let out a small grunt as Honey-senpai took a flying leap onto her back. "Suzushima is Kasuga-chan's fiance!"

Catching her breath, Jacklyn straightened her back, hoisting Honey up a little further behind her, "Uh… sorry, Tamaki. I didn't realize you didn't know. I kinda skimmed over it in Kyoya's journal and figured it was common knowledge… considering how she acts around our teacups and everything."

"I see… and how long have you known about their engagement, Kyoya?"

Honey tugged at Jacklyn's shoulder as Kyoya began to explain his reasoning and began whispering in her ear, "Hey, Jac-chan? How come you're here so early?"

"Decorators kicked us out of the dance hall for the rest of the day. Don't worry, I plan on practicing during lunch and free period until the dance. I just gotta ask Kyoya to let me skip club activities for free period first."

"Aww… okay, Jac-chan."

Jacklyn smiled at the boy just as Tamaki called the room to attention, declaring a need to upgrade their strategy.

"Our what?"

"Men… and ladies. It's our job as the elite Ouran Host Club to make every girl happy! And our primary target for this dance is Kanako Kasugazaki!"

Jacklyn nodded along as Tamaki began to explain what he wanted done. _Okay… mend whatever rift is between the couple and help them live happily ever after. Sounds cliche, but not a bad objective. Of course, there's a million ways for something to go wrong. I hope Tamaki knows what he's doing… at least a little bit._

"Now, we'll discuss the finer points of this plan at the Hitachiin's boutique. It's time to go dress shopping."

Jacklyn's brown eyes widened comically before she attempted to bolt. One problem: Honey's weight on her back made it hard to move fast. He refused to release her until Mori had his hands on her waist. Honey giggled, dropping to the floor as Jacklyn was lifted into his cousin's arms.

Haruhi watched as her friend was carried out the door, shouting complaints and attempting to wiggle free as the rest of the club followed her and Mori-senpai out the door.

"Make every woman happy… yeah, _right._ "

*Friday*

"The Ouran Host Club bids you… welcome~"

Jacklyn blinked rapidly as the huge chandeliers overhead lit up, dousing the orchestra, herself, and the grand piano she was seated at in warm shimmering light. On cue, she brought her hands to the keys and began to play. Her bouncy, playful melody danced above the pulse of the song, providing excellent background music for Kyoya's beginning announcements. The girls scattered across the hall gasped and applauded at the right times, a few screaming in delight as they were told of the promised cheek kiss come the end of the night.

Jacklyn shook her head and kept playing.

A few guests waved to her from over her music sheets. Jacklyn smiled wider, nodding back occasionally. They all looked so beautiful in their fancy dresses.

 _And I'm wearing one, too. How about that?_

Happy that she'd been able to talk the boys out of putting her in a strapless dress, Jacklyn began pounding the keys a little harder, giving the ending of the song a more fast-paced feel to really bring up the guest's heartbeats and encourage some dancing.

When the piece was finished, Jacklyn stood up and bowed to the congregation. Everyone was applauding. Letting her ego inflate just a tad, she carefully picked her way off the stage for the rest of the orchestra to continue without her for the rest of the night. And if she picked up her skirt a little to let everyone see how she'd been wearing _stilettos_ while playing the piano, well… she was proud of that, dammit.

The night began without a hitch. Girls were dancing left and right. Some with the hosts, some without. Even Jacklyn was asked for a dance or two. Half an hour later, as she was talking with Ena about which girl was expected to win the grand prize, Jacklyn felt her stomach clench painfully.

 _Oh, so_ now _I'm hungry. Now that I no longer feel like I'm going to throw up on stage. I hate my stomach sometimes. Eh... guess I'd better get over to the buffet before Haruhi eats all the fancy food. Honestly, they have no self-control with that stuff._

Excusing herself from her friend, Jacklyn began making her way to the buffet. There were a few made-to-order sushi chefs at the far end that she was eyeing… they had eel nigiri on the menu tonight, right?

Before she could check, though, someone stepped in front of her.

"Might I have this dance, my Lady?"

A blush spread across Jacklyn's face. She averted her eyes a bit to avoid staring at Kyoya because _damn_ that boy looked good in a suit. First shirtless, now formal… eventually Jacklyn was going to have to just leave the room whenever Kyoya approached her, less she just lose her mind and kiss him regardless of the consequences. _No one_ should look _that_ good _all the time_.

And yet, Kyoya did it anyways.

"Um… sure."

Hoping her hands weren't shaking, she let Kyoya lead her onto the dance floor. Purposefully ignoring everyone who might be watching, she stood still as they adjusted their grips and waited for the next song to begin. Unfortunately, given that she was ignoring everyone else, that left only Kyoya to look at. He had on his typical small smile, like he wasn't at all affected by how their fingers were laced together or how he was holding onto her waist.

Then he leaned forward a bit and whispered, "I meant to say earlier… but you look beautiful tonight."

Pretending like her heart hadn't stopped beating, Jacklyn managed to respond, "Are you saying that because you helped pick out the dress?"

"Not at all. I'm saying it because it's _you_."

And they began to dance.

*Flashback*

"Mom!"

"We're here!"

Yuzuha Hitachiin looked up from the dresses she was cataloging at the sound of her sons' voices. She beamed and breezed her way to the front of the store. "My boys! I was wondering when you'd… get here." She paused upon seeing the girl who was being carried bridal-style into the store by the eldest Morinozuka child. Usually when teenage girls were brought into Yuzuha's boutique, their emotions tended to vary from disbelief to euphoric celebration. However, this girl looked rather… unhappy. And embarrassed.

Hikaru followed his mother's line of sight before shaking his head. "We had to make sure she wouldn't run off, so Mori-senpai had to carry her in from the car."

"I wouldn't have run off!" Cheeks a deep red, the girl finally managed to wiggle herself down and onto her own two feet. Even though she looked embarrassed enough to hide until the turn of the century, the American girl offered Yuzuha a smile and a bow. "It's nice to finally meet you Hitachiin-sama. Your sons are good people, and good friends."

Hikaru and Kaoru coughed a little, shuffling their feet while their own cheeks flushed. Yuzuha had to stifle a squeal. Oh, this girl was _precious!_ And such a good friend to her baby boys! How wonderful!

"It's a delight to meet you as well, Prout-san. Hikaru and Kaoru have told me much about you! Well, shall we get started?" The displeased expression reappeared on Jacklyn's face, but she nodded and agreed all the same.

Yuzuha figured out Jacklyn's attitude when she had to ask for the girl's dress size. Immediately she flushed and shook her head, quietly admitting that she didn't know because she didn't go shopping much. And when Yuzuha began to measure her, she went still and rather pale.

Once she read the markings, Yuzuha understood completely. Jacklyn had a rather sturdy build as opposed to most of Yuzuha's regular customers. With a larger bust, waist, and hip measurements than the typical Japanese woman, it left Jacklyn with rather limited options in this country. Yuzuha almost wanted to give the girl a hug, but felt that she might make the situation worse by doing so.

So, instead, she got to work.

Thanking her past self for becoming one of the leading clothing manufacturers that catered to women's sizes across the board, Yuzuha ran to the back of the store and grabbed a armful of dresses that would fit Jacklyn. Normally she'd tailor her choices to what colors would look best on her customers or personal preference or the season, but right now Yuzuha was determined that Jacklyn would finally get to experience a dress shopping trip where _everything_ given to her actually _fit_.

And Jacklyn was none the wiser.

Although, she _was_ rather suspicious of how much she was enjoying the shopping trip... at the beginning, at least. So far, every dress she'd put on had fit her, which was not something she was used to. But now she was coming up on another part she disliked. The constant motion of pulling something on and off, messing up her hair when the dress had to go over her head… well, Jacklyn was trying to not complain too much. Especially when the boys made it clear they were footing the bill for her.

"What do you think?" She spun around, feeling the blue skirt flare out around her calves. The dress was… fairly pretty. But not exactly noteworthy.

"Next dress!"

Jacklyn huffed, glaring at the twins a little. "I don't wanna… can't we just take the red dress from earlier? I'm tired and really want to go home."

"No can do, Jacklyn-senpai!"

"You've got one more dress to try!"

"...Fine."

"Bon voyage!"

"Shut up."

Jacklyn wished the changing rooms had doors she could slam. Or that her anxiety would've permitted her to slam the doors if they were there. Instead, she had to settle for sharply pulling the curtain shut and pulling the dress off. She gave it one last look before throwing it back on the hanger and turning to the last dress.

She had to admit, the last one looked the most promising. And that had nothing to do with the fact it was purple with hints of grey at the top. She stepped in through the top and pulled the dress on, already pleased with how soft and silky the fabric was. Once the back was zipped, Jacklyn turned towards the mirror. Immediately, her face lit up. The top hugged her chest without throwing her cleavage out for the world to see, and the skirt covered up her muffin top without looking too poofy. And it was _gorgeous_ to boot!

Jacklyn found herself staring at the mirror, expecting to find a flaw... but for some odd reason it was harder to do so than usual. Everything about the image in the mirror looked… nice.

With a new bounce in her step, Jacklyn hurried to the curtain and pulled it aside. The boy's reactions were immediate. They 'oohed' and 'ahhed', Tamaki looking to be on the brink of tears as he and the others requested twirls and curtsies.

And for the first time that evening, Jacklyn smiled the whole way through.

Oh yeah, she was definitely choosing this one.

*End Flashback*

"I must admit, it's refreshing to finally lead in a dance with you."

Jacklyn rolled her eyes, but giggled all the same. She remembered exactly how the suave, cool boy in front of her had tripped over his own two feet trying to keep up with her jazz swings. Not to mention how he'd moped about it for the following week. "True. Who'd have guessed I was the better dancer?"

In response, Kyoya spun her around. Twice.

Jacklyn giggled again, stumbling dizzily against his chest. "Oof… okay, I earned that. Are we even, now?"

"I'd say so. Now, follow my lead. We need to move closer to the doors on the left side of the hall. Princess Kasuga just entered the hall."

Jacklyn sighed, nodding her head in understanding. She knew it was too good to be true. Of course Kyoya had asked her to dance as part of the plan. At least she got to dance with him at all.

Hoping that no one would get the wrong idea, Jacklyn followed behind Kyoya as he pulled her through a side door and down an empty hallway. The twins were already in the classroom by the time Jacklyn and Kyoya walked in. Behind them was their temporary makeup station and Jacklyn mentally thanked the universe that she wasn't the one about to be attacked by those brushes.

They heard the next group long before they walked in, Honey's cheerful giggling leading the way.

"There she is!"

"Our star actress!"

Jacklyn clapped a hand over her mouth to stifle her laughter. Mori had Haruhi slung over his shoulder like a sack of flour. It was times like this where Jacklyn wished her dresses had pockets. If only she had her phone to record this…

"Y'know, you didn't have to be so forceful!"

"Stop whining and go get changed."

"Yeah!"

Haruhi yelped as she was shoved past the pair of yellow curtains they'd set up in the corner of the room. She grumbled lowly before calling out, "How come _I'm_ the one dressing up? Jacklyn-senpai's already wearing a dress!"

*Flashback*

"Next dress!"

Jacklyn huffed, glaring at the twins a little. "I don't wanna… can't we just take the red dress from earlier? I'm tired and really want to go home."

"No can do, Jacklyn-senpai!"

"You've got one more dress to try!"

"...Fine."

"Bon voyage!"

"Shut up."

Jacklyn pulled the curtain closed, perhaps a little more forceful than necessary, but the boys merely smiled and shook their heads. Yuzuha had already explained that the last dress was likely to be the winner, so they were all excited to see it.

Tamaki bounced his foot across his knee. "Alright, men. Should we go over the plan one final time-"

"Boss, we got it."

"Yeah, the basics are all worked out."

"Now we just need to decide who goes into the room with Suzushima-senpai."

Tamaki nodded his head. "Right. Well, first choice is obviously Jack-"

"Absolutely not."

As soon as the words were out of his mouth, Kyoya knew he should've phrased them differently. The other boys turned to smile devilishly at him.

Kaoru leaned forward, resting his chin on his fist. "Oh _really…_ "

Hikaru followed his brother's example. "Now, why is that, Kyoya-senpai?"

"Do you really think-"

"-that Jacklyn-senpai-"

"-would fall for Suzushima-senpai _that fast?_ "

Kyoya looked away, pulling his black journal out onto his lap. "My reason has nothing to do with Jacklyn's feelings for Suzushima, or vice versa. Especially regarding his rather strong feelings for Princess Kasuga."

"But you admit you gave it some thought?"

"I did not-"

"Oh, come on, Kyoya!" Tamaki slid around his chair until he was draped sideways across it. "It's not like it's a big secret or anything. Why can't you admit that you don't like the idea of Jacklyn getting together with someone other than you? There's no shame in admitting to a crush."

"I don't know what you're talking about."

Thankfully, before anything more could be said, Jacklyn pulled aside the curtain with a beaming smile. What Yuzuha had said was true. The last dress was most certainly the best. Jacklyn looked like 10 million yen and had the smile to prove it. She actually looked happy to be there.

Kyoya eyed her up and down as the others began requesting twirls and the like, his stomach making a weird lurching motion upon realizing the dress matched his rose color in the Host Club. Kyoya couldn't quite find the words to best compliment the smiling girl, so he stayed quiet as the others gushed over her beauty.

And then Jacklyn smiled straight at him and his tongue disappeared altogether. He had no idea how he'd be able to hide his feelings come next Friday when Jacklyn was wearing makeup and had her hair done, save perhaps for pure luck.

As expected, the moment Jacklyn went back into the stall to change, everyone went back to staring at Kyoya, victory etched on their faces.

"You were saying?"

*End Flashback*

"If you must know, Haruhi, if we had Jacklyn in your place she would be immediately recognized and no matter the outcome of this plan her acquaintanceship with Princess Kasuga would be at an end. Given that we live in a world of respect and business relationships, we decided it would be best to avoid inferring that Jacklyn is interested in Princess Kasuga's fiance." Ignoring how Hikaru and Kaoru were rolling their eyes, Kyoya continued, "Remember, Haruhi, you will only have twenty minutes until the climax of the party to achieve your goal."

"Fine, fine."

Haruhi shuffled behind the curtain some more, likely internally cursing about the wig she'd been given along with the dress. Jacklyn inched up beside Kyoya, nudging him slightly. "Do you think this is going to work?"

"We can hope. So long as everyone plays their part right. However… a little accident towards the end of the night might make our little mission more exciting."

"A little _what?_ "

Kyoya shot her an evil-looking smile before the curtains were pulled to the side. Haruhi glared at the boys all the way to her seat by the makeup table, acknowledging Jacklyn's compliment on her dress with a hum. Jacklyn then took one look at the twin's faces and decided a quick reminder to go light on the makeup was the best plan. Thankfully, they agreed.

"Um... I know this is the plan, but now that I think about it, it's kinda unsettling."

"Which part? The Haruhi in makeup and a dress bit, or the Haruhi attempting to flirt bit?"

"Attempting to _what?_ "

"Gentlemen! Here you all are! Our guests are-"

Jacklyn had the divine luck of having a clear view of Tamaki's face when Haruhi turned around in all her girly glory. On the inside she was screaming, _Well, you wanted them in a dress! Here ya go!_ But on the outside Jacklyn gave Haruhi a quick compliment and a 'good luck', hoping she wasn't going to end up on Haruhi's permanent shit-list by the end of the night.

"Good luck, Haruhi!"

"I can't believe... she looks so pretty!"

"Ahem? Tamaki? If you're quite done drooling over Haruhi, maybe you should go and fetch Princess Kasuga for the second part of the plan?"

As she'd expected, Tamaki immediately went on the defense. Running off down the hallway, he called out over his shoulder how he'd only been surprised by Haruhi dressing like a girl in real life and so on and so forth until he finally disappeared back into the dance hall.

Jacklyn shook her head. "For a guy who spends nearly every day of his life flirting with girls, he's awful clueless about the ones he actually enjoys spending time with."

"And you're surprised by this development?"

Standing behind the two remaining 2nd year students, Kaoru abruptly clapped a hand over Hikaru's mouth while holding his brother back with the other. Honey and Mori settled for staring at the back of Jacklyn and Kyoya's heads in utter disbelief. They were all struggling with the sudden desire to shake some much needed sense into their friends.

They'd heard that love was blind, but _seriously?_

*\/*

Ten minutes and a brief explanation to the remaining guests later, the Host Club lead the way out onto the balcony overlooking a small garden between the school buildings. As planned, Princess Kasuga and Suzushima were standing in the middle, four spotlights trained on them as Tamaki declared that they'd be the last dance of the night. Haruhi inched up behind Jacklyn as Suzushima released Kasuga's wrist.

In the silence of the crowd, even her whispers sounded too loud. "Do you think this will work? She was so upset when she found us..."

"Hush. Look."

Suzushima was bowing, offering a hand and a request to dance. And Kasuga... smiled.

Cheesy smile creeping up onto her face, Jacklyn leaned against the railing to watch the show, Haruhi by her side. The other guests cooed and twittered about the lovely scene taking place below them, many of them slipping into verbal daydreams of their own fiances dancing with them under the cherry blossoms. Jacklyn's smile dipped only once, when she felt a sudden twinge of jealousy for the clear love the pair felt for each other, but managed to push it down. The whole thing was just too sweet for her to be thinking of her lack of a love life.

And then she was smacked in the face.

Haruhi had been smart enough to duck when Tamaki threw his arms out to "bless" the "awkward couple", but Jacklyn hadn't been nearly as quick. It was only a graze of Tamaki's fingers against her cheek, but it was enough to take Jacklyn out of the moment and register a small pain blossoming on her face.

Before she could say anything about it, a hand was grabbing at her wrist and pulling Jacklyn to the side. At first, she assumed it was because Hikaru and Kaoru had begun to announce the Queen of the dance while standing directly behind her. But instead of a gentle reminder to keep to the side, Jacklyn suddenly found herself nearly nose to nose with Kyoya. He was inspecting her cheek where Tamaki had accidentally struck her, quietly asking questions under the twins announcement.

When she managed to find her tongue, Jacklyn gently grabbed Kyoya's hands and pulled them away from her face. "Hey, cut it out. I'm fine, he just grazed my cheek."

Kyoya let out a sigh, sending a warm wave of air across Jacklyn's face. "That idiot... if you were standing any closer he could've easily bruised you. Or scratched you."

"Kyoya, it's no big deal."

"Yes, it is. You could've been hurt."

"By the accidental graze of a hand? What harm could that have done, seriously?"

"I'd rather _you_ not be our guinea pig in that regard."

His last statement is what caught Jacklyn off guard. It wasn't the usual care he displayed for all of his close friends and their health. No... this was concern and worry _specifically_ for her.

"... Do you really mean that?"

Kyoya's grip on her hands tightened, his eyes widening behind his glasses. Oh god, was he getting closer? Was this happening? Was this literally about to-

"Haruhi Fujioka will stand in for Tamaki to deliver the prize!"

At the sound of their best friends shouting in rebellion, Jacklyn and Kyoya abruptly pulled away from each other and looked over. The twins looked far too pleased with themselves as Kaoru insisted the idea was spawned from Kyoya's desire of a more thrilling evening.

Haruhi glared at Kyoya, noting just how close he and Jacklyn were standing as she spit out, "There's no way I'm kissing her."

To which he replied, "Do it and we'll cut your debt down by one third."

"... Well I guess if it's just a peck on the cheek..." Haruhi pushed herself away from the banister and made for the stairs, leaving Kyoya to once again turn his focus to Jacklyn. Who was, once again, smiling at him.

"That was really nice of you to do, Kyoya."

"Well, given how highly you speak of Haruhi, it was only fair I do my part to assist your friend in their dilemma."

... If Jacklyn hadn't felt like kissing Kyoya beforehand, she most definitely did now. It would be so easy for her to just throw her arms around his neck and pull him down to her level. Or maybe to roll up onto her toes with her hands on his cheeks. Or perhaps tangle her fingers in his hair. How many people would even notice them, given how they were all staring at-

" _AAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!_ "

Jacklyn nearly jumped out of her skin. Spinning around, it took her a few seconds before she understood what she was seeing. Haruhi was kissing Princess Kasuga... _on the lips!_ And was that Tamaki face-planted on the ground behind them? What happened?

As Haruhi and Kanako sprung apart and the crowd continued to cheer, Jacklyn turned her head to eye the boy behind her suspiciously. "Did you plan _that?_ "

"Not at all… but it certainly has been a rather exciting night, wouldn't you say?"

"Hm." Jacklyn glanced back down at her neighbor, who was smiling as well. "Yes… I suppose it has been."

* * *

 **AAAAAHHHHH! I wrote this while surrounded by little cousins, a birthday boy, and one whole side of my family while suffering from a mix of food-poisoning and pre-travel anxiety the day before I jump on a plane to fly out of the country for the first time ever! I guarantee I've never been this sick/stressed/overwhelmed while writing a chapter before and I really hope it doesn't show in my writing.**

 **Anyways, this is normally where I'd apologize for how long these updates are taking, but at this point I'm also reading fanfiction that takes a while to update and I'm fine with it. Hopefully everyone reading this understands, too.**

 **Either way, I hope you enjoy this!**

 **See you next chapter!**


	3. Beware the Physical Exam

**Hey everyone.** **Since my brain refuses work on the chapter it's supposed to and following a plot and dialogue that's already been written is a lot faster to do, I decided to write this chapter out while I waited out the writer's block. Sorry for the long wait, but I hope you enjoy this chapter anyways!**

 **And to the guest who was confused about Jacklyn's body proportions in the last chapter: She's not overweight but nor is she really skinny, and she also has more muscle than the other girls at Ouran from her years in Marching Band Color Guard. She's also very insecure, so she over exaggerates what she sees in the mirror and compares herself. It doesn't help that the guy she's crushing on is more than conventionally handsome. And I know I already mentioned this, but in Japan all the clothing sizes are one size too small for Americans. Dealing with that stuff over and over again can really wear you down. I know I've cried in changing rooms before. Little Jacklyn is just tired of being told she's too big to be conventionally pretty.**

 **Thank you to Momochan77, M.v.j.M, Shadowing, Ariel2812, LMarie99, ktmyldy28, Cookies16, caelestiie, Manglelove, musiqueismyjam1041, Palapala, and the three guests for your reviews! I'm glad that you like my story already after only two chapters! I think you're gonna like this one, too! Lot's of Kyolyn to go around!**

 **Disclaimer: Jacklyn is the only character I "own"**

* * *

Beware the Physical Exam!

"Oh… it's all so beautiful…"

Akiko's eyes, which she had closed before taking a sip of her tea, opened in surprise at Jacklyn's awestruck voice. She lowered her tea cup and turned to her hostess, head tilting in curiosity.

"Jacklyn? Have you never seen the cherry blossoms in full bloom before? You transferred to Ouran after summer vacation, but when did you move to Japan?"

Jacklyn hummed, not taking her eyes off of the pink petals fluttering through the air. "I arrived in Japan only a few days before school resumed. I stayed in a hotel in Nagoya while I waited for my furniture to be moved into my new place. As much as I wanted to be here in time for the cherry blossoms… I had to finish my last school year in America." Her smile grew wistful as a falling blossom drifted past her cheek. "It's even more beautiful than I imagined."

Akiko and Ena gasped softly, watching Jacklyn as she appeared to soak in the beauty around her. Suddenly, her past hour of doing nothing but sitting and staring made more sense.

Ena gently touched her cheek right below her eyes. "I think I may be crying…"

"Excuse me. I'm terribly sorry to interrupt, but I'm afraid your hosting time is up."

"Aww, what?"

"Please, Ootori-san, let us stay! Jacklyn doesn't have any other guests! C'mon…"

Kyoya's smile faded, eyes softening in a silent apology. "Again, I must apologize, but I'm afraid our rules have little leeway. Despite Jacklyn's lack of other guests, it would be unfair to our other customers should any one receive extra time with their host during business hours. I am pleased to hear that you are enjoying your time here so much, and I assure you I take no pleasure in sending you away. So, to make up for it, I have compiled picture books of our hosts that capture the moments we can not share with you, our beloved guests. Would you ladies be interested?"

"Yes, please!"

"Can I buy more than one?"

Kyoya smiled as charmingly as possible as he sold two more full sets to the girls. And just like that, their new tea sets were paid for, three times over. Not bad for the first day of sales. Waving the girls off, he slipped the heavy coin purse back into his pocket before approaching Jacklyn. She was still sitting in the same chair she'd claimed at the beginning of hosting activities two hours ago, her green yakuta helping her blend in with the surrounding greenery.

"You haven't moved an inch since we set up."

"Mm hm."

Kyoya carefully pulled a second chair away from the table to join his classmate, the two of them facing the mass of cherry trees that filled the garden. Another gust of wind shook the branches, sending a flurry of petals through the air in an intricate dance. At his right, Kyoya faintly heard Jacklyn gasp, one of her hands reaching up in front of her as if hoping one of the petals would fall into her palm.

"It looks like magic." Her words were barely a whisper.

Kyoya gave Jacklyn a glance out of the corner of his eye. "And here I was worried you'd be bored without your piano for the day."

She didn't respond, her eyes lit up like an excited child's as she watched an entire blossom spinning around in the air.

"Although, I am surprised the ladies didn't ask you to sing instead. Their curiosity of your voice seems to have dissipated some months ago... I take it you don't plan to encourage it again?"

Jacklyn let out a small squeak of delight as a petal smacked right onto the tip of her nose, eyes squeezing shut just as her grin spread widely across her face. The blossom fluttered there for a moment before being carried off. Jacklyn immediately relaxed in her chair, leaning back a bit to stare at the sky.

"Yeah, Kyoya. Sounds good."

Kyoya raised an eyebrow, watching Jacklyn out of the corner of his eye. Casually crossing his legs, he broke the silence once again. "I've been thinking… perhaps we should host our next flower viewing at the Higashizawa Rose Park."

"Hmm?"

His eyes narrowed, now staring straight ahead at the patch of grass slowly being covered by the petals. "Of course, the park is all the way in the Yamagata Prefecture. In order to host there, we'd have to cover the expenses of transporting ourselves, our guests, and all of our equipment roughly 330 kilometers North and back again. It's also likely we'd need permission from both the Park to host the event and from the school to leave early enough for appropriate viewing and hosting times, not to mention the set up. We'll probably wipe out our entire savings and possibly throw ourselves into debt, but I'm sure Tamaki wouldn't care about that at all should we pitch the idea. What do you say?"

"Hm? Oh, sure. I trust you."

Kyoya immediately dropped the act, placing both of his feet back on the ground and turning towards Jacklyn. "You're not paying attention at all, are you?"

"Hmm? What?"

Just before Kyoya can say anything else, a third voice interrupted.

"Say… Mommy, dear?"

Kyoya let out a sigh, falling back against his chair. "What is it now… Daddy?" At this point, he didn't much care about what came out of his mouth. He just wanted Jacklyn to pay a little bit of attention to him.

Much to his displeasure, Tamaki seemed to be the only one listening.

"I have a new theory… it seems that by being in the same class as Haruhi, Hikaru and Kaoru are able to spend more time with her than I am. Which means they get a better chance to grow close with her…"

"Oh, Tamaki. You're just now realizing this?" Kyoya waited another second to see if Jacklyn had snapped out of it before giving up, walking over to the whiteboard they'd brought out with them. After erasing the list of Hosting sites that had been available for the day and replacing it with two hastily drawn pie charts, Kyoya took a step back and began to explain.

"As you can see, in a single day the twins get to spend approximately 9 hours of class time with Haruhi, while you're limited to only a few hours of club activities during which you have little contact with each other. As a result, your involvement in Haruhi's life only amounts to about 3% or less."

Kyoya watched with a smile as Tamaki screamed for him to shut up before running off. His explanation might've been a little cruel and could've done with some sugar-coating now that he thought about it… but Kyoya was feeling oddly spiteful at the moment. And even though it wasn't Tamaki's fault, it was somehow relaxing to take some of his pent up annoyance out on him. Besides, it wasn't like Tamaki to hold a grudge, so he didn't need to worry about any sort of revenge.

"Thank goodness the guests are gone, or Tamaki would've scared them off."

Kyoya spun around, shocked to find Jacklyn standing by his side. "Have you finished admiring the flowers? I could've sworn you'd be sitting there for days."

"I'm content for now. Tamaki's screaming kinda distracted me. What exactly did you tell him?"

"He asked me which of the hosts had a better chance of becoming close to Haruhi."

Jacklyn glanced around Kyoya's body at the whiteboard. "Pie charts, huh? I take it he didn't like what he heard?"

The two of them paused for a moment as Tamaki came rushing back, hauling Haruhi behind him and complaining about why she should "change back" into a girl. The rest of the hosts trailed behind the pair, Hikaru and Kaoru throwing little monkey wrenches into Tamaki's speech whenever they could.

"Not in the strictest sense."

"Hmm… well, you've always been rather blunt. Oh! I wanted to ask… since when did you start playing along with Tamaki's "Mommy-Daddy" routine?"

Kyoya blinks, a small smile appearing on his face even as Tamaki began shaking Haruhi back and forth in front of them.

"You _were_ listening." He was given a brief sly smile before Jacklyn stepped forward to try and separate Tamaki and Haruhi. Of course, it wasn't easy. She ended up grabbing Haruhi around the chest and tugging backwards against her classmate's iron grip. Off to the side, Hikaru and Kaoru let out a pair of sighs.

"You don't have to rush things, Boss. She's going to be found out soon enough."

"Physical exams are the day after tomorrow."

Tamaki abruptly let go of Haruhi's arms, causing her to fall back against Jacklyn and almost knock the both of them into the dirt. They looked at each other for a moment before turning back towards the boys.

"Physical…"

"Exams…?"

Even Kyoya seems slightly thrown off by the twin's reminder, glancing down at the miniature calendar that lined the front of his journal. "That's right… I forgot all about it. And considering all the students take the exam in the same room…"

"Then there's no doubt. Everyone's going to find out… that I'm really a girl."

Jacklyn blinked, looking out at everyone's shocked faces.

 _Wait… what physical exams are they talking about?_

*The Next Day*

"So Ouran Academy conducts physical exams for all of their students? That's nice of them."

Honey tugged at Jacklyn's dress skirt, head tilted like an adorable puppy. "What are physical exams like in America, Jac-chan? You mean they don't do it at school?"

"Not where I'm from. Most kids don't need to take a physical exam unless they're involved in a sport or something. And even then they need to go to their doctor and have them fill out a form for the student to give to their coach, who then gives it to the school. I guess this way gets rid off the middleman."

"Hey… what's Boss doing over there?"

"I dunno… but he's been in that chair all morning."

Before Jacklyn could make a move to follow the twins, a hand found it's way around her arm, keeping her still. Not to her surprise, it was Kyoya. He waited until the rest of the club members were far enough away to not overhear before dropping his hand. Jacklyn couldn't help but wish he had kept it there.

"I didn't get the chance to ask yesterday, but do you have your electives picked out for this year, Jacklyn?"

"Yeah. I thought about what you said and decided to take Japanese Cultural History with you and Tamaki instead of that advanced math course. I'm waiting for the first day of class to let Tamaki know. Kinda like a surprise."

"I'm glad to hear it, and I'm sure Tamaki will be pleased. What of your second course?"

"I didn't get to pick. The school administration is having me take Remedial Kanji just like last year. I'm still approximately two to three years behind everyone else in our grade. I think they want me all caught up by the time I... graduate." The word "leave" had been on the tip of her tongue. Not because she wanted to say it, but because that's what had been engraved into her mind for almost two years now. A high school experience... then done.

After a moment of awkward silence, Kyoya looked down at his journal and prompted, "Speaking of your own specific courses, being our exchange student, next year you'll be taking college level English and Math courses, correct? Is the school bringing college professors here, to Ouran Academy?"

"No, I think we decided that I'll be taking online courses during the usual class periods. I won't be given any extra free time if that's what you were curious about. Bit of a let down, really."

Kyoya shook his head as Jacklyn faintly laughed at her poor joke attempt. But he couldn't blame her. Anything that could push away the mental reminder that Jacklyn's time in Japan had an expiration date was worth an effort.

"I have a question for you, too." Jacklyn glanced across the room at the others before whispering, "You already have a plan for Haruhi's little problem tomorrow, don't you? I figure you were probably thinking about it as soon as we all went home, meaning you've probably come up with something by now."

Kyoya went to answer when Tamaki was pulled out of his daydream, standing up to address the whole room. "Envious, Hikaru? This is all a part of my strategy. While you were wasting your time being blinded by jealousy, I've forseen the outcome of our upcoming adventure!"

Jacklyn and Kyoya exchanged a look before joining the hosts in front of Tamaki. No doubt he was about to say something rather stupid. He was calling Hikaru out for being "envious" and "jealous", for crying out loud.

 _Self-projection, much?_

"Ahh… you see, if this were an anime it would be a romantic school comedy! Haruhi and I, of course, are the main characters meaning we are _love interests!_ And you boys are the homosexual supporting cast!"

Jacklyn was at a lost for words. Kaoru, on the other hand, was not so completely thrown off that he couldn't address the elephant in the room. "What about Jacklyn? Are you trying to suggest that she's also a part of the homosexual supporting cast?"

"Not at all! She's part of the secondary love arc! She and her love interest won't be given as much screen time as Haruhi or myself, of course, but they are still beloved by the viewers and appear together in the background, their relationship slow moving but equally heartwarming."

Hikaru was the next one to speak up, a hand coming up to rub at the bridge of his nose. "Listen, Boss… I'm starting to think you haven't actually looked at the whole picture, here."

"If people find out that Haru-chan is really a girl, then she won't be able to be in the Host Club anymore!"

"Yeah, and if I know the guys who go to our school-"

"-they'll be lining down the block to confess to her once she starts wearing dresses every day."

Jacklyn hummed, "Yeah… some of the boys at this school are pretty brave in that regard. Even I got a few confessions here and there last year." She noticed how a few of the boys were staring at her. "They usually cornered me during lunch time. I turned them all down since I didn't really know any of them, but the point is that Haruhi's cuteness is definitely going to earn herself some attention."

"Very true." Kyoya flipped through a few pages of his journal. "According to my research, I estimate that someone would declare their attraction for her at least once every two weeks."

"Aww… and I wouldn't get to see Haru-chan at all! I only get to see her during club hours, so if she's not here I wouldn't see her at all!"

"And that goes for the rest of us… except the twins. You're the only ones here who'd really see her after that. I doubt she'd come to the club as a guest, no matter how much you beg." Jacklyn considered continuing on, but stopped once she noticed the tears gathering in the corner of Tamaki's eyes. Immediately all the blood in her body rushed to her feet. Did she just make her friend cry?! Oh no no no... She reached her hands forward, unsure of how to backtrack.

Fortunately, she didn't need to.

 _Un_ fortunately, it was at Haruhi's expense. As was the usual, these days.

"Hey guys, sorry I'm so late-"

"Don't you worry, Haruhi! We're determined to help keep your secret! No one will find out you're really a girl during tomorrow's physical exam! So please, promise you'll stay our beloved secret princess!"

"... Sure?"

Jacklyn let out a sigh, hands falling to her hips. Seems as though Tamaki's view on Haruhi's "secret identity" had taken yet another 180 degree turn. How long it would last this time was a mystery… but at least now they wouldn't have to worry about him trying to fight whatever plan Kyoya had come up with. Because even though he hadn't had the chance to answer Jacklyn's question, she was positive that Kyoya had already come up with a solution. He wouldn't be acting so calm if he hadn't, considering Haruhi still owed the club a large sum of money.

"Y'know… even though we're the only one's who'd still see her in class, I for one would be pretty peeved watching a bunch of hormonal guys try to flirt with her all the time."

"Suppose that settles it, then."

Tamaki wasted no time in herding the Host Club boys around one of the whiteboards they'd borrowed for the flower viewing yesterday. He quickly began to scribble across it, directing the boys to their "formation A" during the 1st year's physical exams. Jacklyn and Haruhi watched from the sidelines. Haruhi because she was the target. Jacklyn because she was staring hard at the whiteboard, trying to understand the Kanji Tamaki had written on it.

Noticing the blank stare coming from her neighbor, Jacklyn gave up and leaned down instead, whispering, "You understand what's going on, right?"

Jacklyn didn't know how much Haruhi was absorbing, but knew it had personally taken her a long time to figure out just how the Host Club worked out their problems. Tamaki was always up front, leading the charge with Hikaru, Kaoru, Honey, and occasionally Mori right on his heels. But then there was Kyoya, who gave off the appearance on either not caring or simply allowing himself to be dragged along. Only that wasn't the case. In reality he was in the shadows, either crafting his own plan or at the very least making adjustments to Tamaki's original plan, in order for them all to accomplish their goals without making a bigger mess along the way.

He was so smart…

"Yeah… I get it. If I leave the Host Club it'll be harder for them to collect on my debt."

"Ah- no, that's not-"

"My current balance is 5,330,332 yen… and since I still don't have that kind of money, I guess I'll just have to come up with some other way to repay my debt!"

"Um… that's not at all-"

"Are you saying that you hate being a host?! That you hate this club?!"

"No! Tamaki don't go around accus-"

"To be honest, I'd have to say yes."

"Wha- No one is listening to me!"

"Annoying, isn't it?"

Jacklyn glared at Kyoya, but he was already back to staring at his journal, no doubt hiding a self-satisfied smirk. _Sometimes, I don't know what I see in that boy._

"Well, it's not like I can do anything if it gets out that I'm a girl, y'know? Kinda out of our hands. At this point isn't it better to just accept it? And considering what happened to bring me into this club this does seem like my best chance at freedom-"

"Fancy Tuna."

And just like that, the room stilled. One of these days, Jacklyn was going to ask Mori just _how he did that_ , but for now she could settle with simply having everyone on the same side of this physical exam issue.

"Oh… that's right… you didn't get a chance to try it at our last party, _did you?_ "

The rest of the club quickly jumped on the bandwagon, laying the taunting on thick as Haruhi watched with wide eyes that were filled with panic.

"W-what are you talking about? Just because I've never had it before doesn't mean I'm such a glutton that'd I'd go on about lying about my biological gender just to eat it! What do you boys take me for? Ehehehe…"

"Haruhi?" Jacklyn nervously tugged on her fingers, shyly looking at Haruhi through her eyelashes. "I know I can't make you stay, but I do have a lot more fun in the club with you in it. I'd really like having a girl friend to hang out with while I'm still in Japan." She felt a little bad about manipulating her friend... but it was only a small amount of manipulation. Right?

Haruhi stared at Jacklyn for a long moment before ducking her head. "Maybe… we can share a dance at the next party?"

Jacklyn let loose a bright grin as the boys laughed along.

*Time Skip*

"Okay, so I wait for Hikaru and Kaoru to start their hosting technique-"

"No, Tamaki. For this to work you'll need to already be behind the curtain and changed. You know how difficult it is to properly put on a wig."

"Yes… I suppose you're right."

Jacklyn shook her head, doing her best to tune out the deception playing out right next to her. It was hard, though. Especially with the laughter that was constantly threatening to escape as she imagined how tomorrow morning was going to go down. Kyoya would never forgive… okay, no, he'd probably eventually forgive her, even if she spoiled his plan for revenge, but the point was that Jacklyn wanted to see Tamaki make a fool out of himself just as much as the others.

Sorry, but what else did Tamaki expect for calling all of his friends the "Supporting Cast"? Whether he liked it or not, they were a ride-together, die-together kind of friendship group, and he was about to learn that the hard way.

"Psst! Prout-san!"

Jacklyn jerked her head up, surprised to see a small group of girls waving to her from the other side of the room. Hesitating just long enough to see if Kyoya or Tamaki were paying attention, she eventually slid out of her seat and walked over. The girls were giggling, which only put Jacklyn on edge. The last time giggling girls waved her away from her friends, they were using her to make fun of their guy friend who was newly single.

Hopefully her new classmates were still nicer than the ones she'd left behind and weren't about to have a personality switch.

"What's up?"

The girls dissolved into a mess of giggling once again, two of them gently shoving each other. Jacklyn shifted her feet, anxiety growing the longer she stood there.

Finally, one of them blurted out, "Do you know if Suoh-san and Ootori-san are going to strip during physical exams like they did last year?"

"... _EHH?_ "

The girl's giggling died down at the sight of Jacklyn's bright red face. She looked like her entire body had gone into lockdown, frozen in place as she tried to compute what had just been said to her.

"Um…" Another girl pulled out her phone and began scrolling through her photo album. "I guess you wouldn't really know… but last year the Host Club… well they kinda… h-here. It's embarrassing to say it!"

And that's how Jacklyn found herself staring at a photo of Kyoya and Tamaki standing side-by-side, shirtless, and sporting cheeky smiles. Not to mention how Kyoya was giving the camera what could only be described as smoldering bedroom eyes.

She nearly passed out.

Two of her classmates rushed to her sides, grabbing hold of her arms and quietly berating the girl who'd shown her the photo.

"Hana-chan! She wasn't prepared!"

"Yeah, you saw how she was with Ootori-san being shirtless at the club!"

"I'm so sorry! I didn't mean it!"

Jacklyn let herself stare at the ceiling, trying to regain control over her brain, but it was hard with the image of shirtless Kyoya reappearing every time she blinked. Part of her was embarrassingly happy and excited by the idea of seeing Kyoya shirtless again in real life. The other half…

She sighed, feeling starting to return back to her limbs as reality once again set in. Her classmates, once they were sure she wasn't about to collapse, began to apologize repeatedly for the sudden shock. Jacklyn waved them off, giving out her own apologies for not having an answer to their question. After perhaps more apologies than was necessary, Jacklyn made her way back to her desk. A group of boys had gathered around her desk while she was away, but they scattered once she approached.

Jacklyn didn't really care, though. She was too caught up in her own head. Sitting down at her desk, she dropped her chin into her palm and sighed heavily.

 _Just as I thought… I really am nothing special in Kyoya's eyes._

*The Next Morning*

" _We will begin conducting physical examinations shortly. All 1st year and nursing committee students, please proceed to the clinic in your respective school building._ "

Jacklyn paused in the middle of writing out the chemical equations she was supposed to be balancing, eyes glancing to her right as Kyoya stood up from his seat. As he approached the front of the classroom, she slowly began to close her own notebook, hoping no one would notice. She and Tamaki were apparently supposed to sneak out of class while Kyoya was announcing his absence to the teacher. Her head was already growing light-

"Sensei? I apologize for not alerting you sooner, but I have a special notice from the Dean to allow Prout-san to accompany me."

Now the entire class was looking up from their desks, either watching Kyoya or Jacklyn and whispering among themselves. Both Jacklyn and Tamaki were part of the former group. _This isn't the plan…_

"She's shared with me that the way we conduct our physical examinations is vastly different from the way they are done in her country. The Dean and I both feel it is only common courtesy to show her the process before she is required to experience it first-hand. I hope this won't be a problem?"

"Of course not, Ootori-san. You and Prout-san are dismissed."

Not quite believing just how smart her crush was, Jacklyn quickly jumped out of her seat. Kyoya waited for her to join him at the front of the class before giving her a small smile, gesturing towards the door with a wave of his hand. Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted Tamaki making small gestures, apparently trying to capture their attention. He frantically mouthed 'And me! Bring me, too!' before Jacklyn and Kyoya walked out into the hallway, leaving him behind.

Once she was sure their classmates wouldn't be able to hear them, Jacklyn lightly smacked at Kyoya's arm, beaming up at him even as she admonished, "You're so mean!"

"But you love it."

Thwarted, and with a bright pink blush on her face, Jacklyn quickly brought her hands back to her side and stared at the ground. "Tamaki's going to chew you out for hours after this."

"If he remembers. Besides, it was rather funny."

"Geez, you're so cruel!"

"You thought it was funny too, don't forget."

"Shut up. What happens now?"

"Now…" Kyoya held open the door to the clinic and gestured for Jacklyn to enter. "Now, we follow the plan."

"The plan where Tamaki is humiliated or the plan you came up with that you now refuse to tell me about?"

Kyoya's glasses caught the light, but his smile betrayed his thoughts nonetheless. "Both. Come along now, I see Haruhi."

"I see her, too. And… is that Honey-senpai and Mori-senpai?"

They managed to slip through the crowds with ease, coming up behind Haruhi just as she noticed the disguised 3rd years. She jerked in surprise as Kyoya spoke up, "I've got those two for backup just in case anything goes wrong, though they likely would've shown up regardless even if they didn't have a role to play. With such a small club, we all prefer to be in the loop, as it were."

"But… doctor's robes?"

"Just setting the mood."

Jacklyn raised an eyebrow. _Setting the mood? Sure… or tricking Tamaki into thinking that a disguise will work. Then again, Honey-senpai and Mori-senpai were recognised pretty easily. Though I doubt Tamaki would notice. How can someone who is so smart also be so outrageously dumb?_

Knowing they'd have some time before Tamaki showed up, Jacklyn found herself looking around the large room. She'd never been in any of the infirmaries before. It was very spacious and grand, much like the rest of the school. If the curtains were removed and all the medical supplies cleared out, Jacklyn could easily see a fancy party being thrown here.

But there was one thing that was a little… irritating about the place.

"Say, Kyoya?"

"Hm?"

Jacklyn crossed her arms, looking down the row of curtains. "How come all the nurses are female and all the doctors are male?"

Kyoya wasn't the only one who looked around at Jacklyn's comments. Haruhi and even a few of the other 1st years nearby took a second look at the adults. They all seemed rather shocked that what Jacklyn had said was true.

"I didn't even notice that…" Kyoya hummed and tapped his pen against his journal. "That is odd. As far as I'm aware, we have a roughly equal number of female and male doctors at my family's main hospitals."

One of the first years cautiously reached out and tapped at Jacklyn's arm. "Um… Prout-san, is it? How come you noticed?"

"Back at home, both of my parents have or are currently working in hospitals, and I've met a number of nurses and doctors. The titles aren't determined by gender binary. Also, my last three doctors back home have been women, and when my mother had eye surgery she had solely male nurses. I dunno why I noticed… but once I did I couldn't stop."

"Yeah… I knew something else was bugging me about this. I thought it was just because everyone was acting super nice."

"Ah, now that part does have an explanation. All the doctors and nurses here were selected by the school's chairman and given orders to appease the students. Since Ouran Academy's students are the children of powerful and impactful people, the school tends to run as a business would. Since most of their families have private doctors at home, physical exams are more a formality than anything, and are used to keep the students happy."

Haruhi didn't say a word and she turned and walked off.

Jacklyn might've followed her, too, if it weren't for the doctor who roughly bumped into her shoulder. She yelped, stumbling into Kyoya's side as the man marched forward, seemingly unaffected. Kyoya quickly helped steady her before turning to glare at the man who finally stopped a few paces away.

"Ah- I'm terribly sorry!"

Kyoya frowned, but Jacklyn quickly waved him off. "No, don't worry. I'm fine."

The man nodded before hurrying away, not giving either one a backwards glance. Jacklyn sighed and regretfully pulled herself out of Kyoya's grip. She was still somewhat upset by her discovery in class yesterday. Offering him what she hoped was a casual smile, Jacklyn patted Kyoya's arm in thanks.

He didn't look at her, still staring off after the doctor.

"Kyoya? You okay?"

"...Huh."

"Kyoya, let it go. I'm fine. C'mon, Haruhi went this way."

Hoping she wasn't crossing any boundaries, Jacklyn pinched a bit of his sleeve between her thumb and forefinger and pulled, steering Kyoya in the direction Haruhi had gone.

*\/*

The loud chorus of screams lead the way. Jacklyn and Kyoya rounded a corner just in time to watch Hikaru and Kaoru strip their shirts in front of a large group of girls. And if Jacklyn wasn't imagining it, the girls had been waiting there long before the boys undressed. She frowned. She'd be seeing the same thing in less than an hour when her class came for physical exams... only it would be Tamaki and Kyoya posing shirtless for the girls instead.

"Quite an impressive turn-out this year."

Jacklyn's eyes fell to the floor. "Oh… right. I heard all about last year from the girls in our class. They were wondering if you and Tamaki would be doing it again this year… Guess they didn't have anything to worry about, then."

"Jacklyn? Are you-"

"Oh… looks like Haruhi just went behind the curtain. Guess it's time. I'm pretty sure I saw Tamaki sneak into the clinic a few minutes ago, too." Forcing a smile, Jacklyn began following after Honey and Mori. "Well, let's go watch the show-"

"Wait."

She gasped, thrown off balance by Kyoya's hand grabbing hold of her arm. Turning around, Jacklyn found herself pinned in place by both Kyoya's strength and his stare, the boy stepping closer until there was barely a breath of air between them.

"Kyoya?"

"What was that?"

"What?"

"You just interrupted my question, gave me a ridiculously fake smile, and are clearly trying to avoid whatever subject you think I'm about to start. Forgive me, but that raises more than a little concern." His grip on her arm had loosened ever so slightly, no longer meant to trap her it now served as a reminder that Kyoya wanted them this close. Jacklyn watched with wide eyes as Kyoya's other hand came up to brush at a strand of hair resting on her cheek. His fingertips left hot trails of fire on her skin.

"Why do you look so unhappy? You've been like this ever since you talked with those girls in class yesterday. What exactly did they tell you?"

"I… Kyoya, it was nothing…"

"Nothing? Really, Jacklyn? We're both smarter than that."

"I… I-I… they just showed me a picture…"

"A picture? Of what?"

Jacklyn flinched ever so slightly when Kyoya's hand came back up to her face, this time cupping her cheek. She didn't understand. She'd never seen Kyoya get this close to anyone before out of his own free will. Even his clients were usually kept at arms-length. But she knew... she knew... it wasn't real. It couldn't be real. She wasn't the only girl at the school who got to hear his sweet words and admire his good looks. And she _definitely_ couldn't be the only girl he paid attention to.

"What are you playing at?"

"What?"

"Mister Fujioka? Are you ready to be measured now?"

"Yes… I'm Haruhi Fujioka."

The moment Kyoya's eyes moved from Jacklyn's face to where Tamaki was now standing, she jumped out from his arms and ran around the crowd. Her heart was pounding like mad in her chest, making up for the past minute where it had all but stopped dead. She reached the back of Haruhi's changing stall, glad that everyone else was so focused on laughing at Tamaki they didn't notice her red face.

Slipping inside, she found Haruhi laying face-down on the floor like she was trying to become one with the tiles. Managing a real smile this time, she crouched down and tapped her friend's head. "Hey. How're you holding up?"

"He's a moron."

"Yeah."

"Was that really the plan?"

"Not really. It was payback. Tamaki called the Host Club the Homosexual Supporting Cast, so they all wanted revenge."

"What? Why'd he call them that?"

Jacklyn didn't answer, prompting Haruhi to look up from the floor. For some reason, Jacklyn's head was down and her face was a dark red. Haruhi sat up and turned around, not surprised to see Kyoya standing at the same curtain opening Jacklyn had come through earlier.

"Haruhi, are you ready? I went ahead and set up a separate room for your physical exams, a special clinic. And I have a doctor standing by who is sworn to secrecy." Kyoya's eyes casually slid from Haruhi to the girl kneeling behind her before he continued, "And, for convenience sake, the doctor has agreed to see Jacklyn as well, considering she is unfamiliar with how our physical exams are conducted and would probably benefit from having someone walk her through it the first time around."

Jacklyn's head jerked upwards. _Wait… what?_

Before she could ask, the rest of the host club joined them, explaining how all the doctors and nurses present worked at one of the Ootori hospitals in Tokyo.

"I knew you had a plan."

 _But how come you added me to it?_

*Flashback*

Kyoya watched out of the corner of his eye as Jacklyn was waved over to a small group of their classmates. The girls all seemed to be giggling with each other, but Jacklyn's shoulders were tense. Kyoya frowned. He wished he could magically or perhaps medically get rid of Jacklyn's anxiety for her, but knew it wasn't his decision to make. She seemed to be handling it well enough without medication.

Still… if she ever decided to try medical help Kyoya would be more than willing to assist with the medical expenses-

"Hey, Ootori-san? Suoh-san?"

Tamaki's head jerked up at the sound of his name, his arms slamming onto his desk to hide the "Operation: I swear Haruhi is a Boy" paper from their classmates. Of course, other than a few weird looks, none of the boys seemed to be paying the paper any attention.

"We were curious about something and figured you could help us out."

"So, we know you guys are gonna be doing your Host Club thing at tomorrow's physical exams, yeah?"

Tamaki smiled. "Of course! We can't let such a perfect opportunity to please our guests off-site pass by!"

"Right, but we were wondering… do _all_ of your members participate?"

Kyoya raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

The boys were now roughly shoving each other's shoulders, a few of them sporting blushes as one of them mumbled, "We were wondering if Jacklyn was going to play along. Y'know… maybe a little shoulder slip or something? Showing off her bra, maybe?"

The group snickered and continued to lightly smack each other for a few more seconds… before they realized that Tamaki and Kyoya weren't doing the same. Tamaki's eyes were wide, and so was his mouth. He gaped at the boys in shock for a full ten seconds before slowly turning to Kyoya, face paling in fear.

And for good reason.

Kyoya's body was as stiff as a board, his right hand clenched into a fist around his pencil like he was about to stab someone with it. His glasses were at such an angle that the light wasn't glared over, but somehow that was even scarier because there was nothing hiding the pure unbridled _rage_ boiling over in his eyes. Despite their dull grey color a mounting fire burned within them, ready to be unleashed at a moment's notice.

Kyoya's classmates took the safe route and ran to the other side of the room without another word or a backwards glance. A few seconds later and Jacklyn returned, slumping into her seat and dropping her head into her hand. She let out a heavy sigh and shut her eyes like she was ready for a nap, completely unaware of the short and somewhat disturbing conversation she had only barely missed by a few seconds.

Reigning his facial expressions in, Kyoya walked to his own seat and began to scribble a few extra steps into the real plan for the next day. There was no way he was going to risk Jacklyn dealing with Peeping Toms tomorrow in the school clinic.

But even as he added Jacklyn's name beside Haruhi's, he couldn't help but wonder…

 _Does Jacklyn feel like this whenever my clients fuss over my physical appearance?_

*End Flashback*

"Jacklyn-senpai? Do you know where this special clinic is?"

"No… we probably have to look at the signs for it."

Haruhi nodded, not bothered about taking the lead. She knew Jacklyn still had a bit of a hard time with Kanji. Thankfully, just like Kyoya had said, it was only a few doors down the hallway from the main clinic, probably the only occupied room in the whole wing. Exchanging a glance, the girls reached forward and knocked.

"Come in."

Haruhi opened the door, Jacklyn peeking in over her shoulder. She just barely managed to tamp down a broad smile at the sight of a female doctor waiting for them on the other side. She felt oddly proud that Kyoya had been the one to bring a female doctor to the school.

"Hello Fujioka-san and Prout-san. Ootori-san has made me aware of your situations. If you wouldn't mind, could you both disrobe for me over there? I will begin with Fujioka-san seeing as how he will need to return to class first."

"Sure."

"Okay. Haruhi, do you want to go first or…"

"I don't mind. We can share the stall unless that makes you uncomfortable."

"Not at all."

*Main Clinic*

"Miss? Miss, please calm down. Can you tell us what happened?"

The Host Club paused in the process of dragging Tamaki's dead weight out of the clinic. By the windows a large group of students, nurses, and doctors had gathered around a girl. She looked like she was crying.

"One of t-the doctors… m-made a _pass_ at me! He grabbed my shoulder! I was so scared!"

"I knew I should've filed a report…" Kyoya rubbed at his chin, eyes shut and expression tense.

Honey slowly eased Tamaki's left foot to the floor. "What do you mean?"

"Earlier today… a strange man ran into Jacklyn. He was wearing a white lab coat but clearly not one of my family's doctors, which I thought was a little odd. I would've asked for some identification if Jacklyn hadn't been so quick to brush him off and steer us away."

The twins dropped Tamaki's arms next, causing his head to smack against the ground. "Don't you think you should've said something to a passing doctor?"

"What if he had been targeting Jacklyn first but moved on because you were there?"

Kyoya dropped his hand, letting out a sigh. "Yes, I realize that _now_ , but it shouldn't cause any future problems, regardless. I'm sure the security guards will catch him in no time."

"Tell me, Miss, which way did the man go?"

"I-I didn't really see… I think he just ran out the main doors."

"Hm, well he won't find many hiding places down that way. All the doors in that hallway are locked unless they are actively in use. I believe there's only one being used right now as a special clinic for a few select students."

The pen Kyoya had been carrying in his free hand snapped in half.

Tamaki jumped up from the floor, he and the rest of the club now facing the main doors.

 _Haruhi and Jacklyn!_

*Special Clinic*

Jacklyn found herself humming a OneRepublic song that had been stuck in her head since that morning. She and Haruhi met eyes over each other's shoulders and snickered. They didn't understand it, but something about the two of them getting undressed in the same spot was a little amusing. Jacklyn felt like she was back at home, her and her old friend Emma changing out of their sweaty marching band clothes in Jacklyn's bedroom before their sleepover.

"Haruhi? Can you get my zipper? Usually I can get it myself, but since you're here?"

"Sure thing!" Haruhi quickly undid the clip at the back of Jacklyn's neckline before pulling the zipper down to her lower back. She tilted her head as Jacklyn shed the yellow dress.

"Hey… don't you usually wear sports bras?"

"Yeah, usually, but since today was physical exams I decided to wear a "real" bra instead. It's so uncomfortable!"

"I thought you boobs looked bigger than usual, but I figured you were just trying to get more of Kyoya-senpai's attention."

"Haruhi!" Jacklyn swatted one arm of her dress at her friend, red in the face but still smiling. "Shut up! Finish undressing!"

"Fine, fine!"

The girls turned away from each other again, Haruhi finally slipping off her shirt while Jacklyn stepped out of her dress fully. The room felt much chillier now that she was standing in only her underwear.

 _I wonder if there's a robe or something I can-_

Jacklyn heard the curtains rustle as they were pulled to the side. She glanced over her shoulder, surprised that Haruhi had already finished disrobing.

But it wasn't Haruhi.

It was…

"You?"

The man who had run into her earlier spun around. Jacklyn hastily backed away, grabbing her dress from the floor to clutch at her chest, trying to hide her underwear. She called out Haruhi's name in warning and the other girl turned just in time for the man to lunge, grabbing Haruhi's arm with one hand while the other covered her mouth.

"No, it's not what you think! Please keep quiet!"

"Haruhi!"

"Jacklyn!"

"Tama-chan… _kick!_ "

Jacklyn shut her eyes as the man went flying, slamming straight into the wall to her left. When she peeked out again, she saw that the rest of the Host Club had gathered at the opening in the curtains, sunlight shining through the windows behind them to give off a "Superhero" vibe.

"One: Good looks that attract the public eye."

"Two." Kyoya stepped forward, shedding his school jacket to wrap around Jacklyn's bare shoulders before easing her to her feet. "More wealth than you can imagine."

"Three: Chivalry that will never be able to overlook-"

"-the hideous wickedness in this world."

"That's what makes up the Ouran Host Club!"

"We are here! Watch out!"

Jacklyn found herself in Kyoya's arms, most of her body being shielded from the strange man staring up at them in obvious fear. A glance to her left showed Haruhi wearing Tamaki's white button down like a Halloween ghost costume. She looked just as confused as Jacklyn felt.

"Please don't hurt me! Spare my life! Please let me explain!"

Tamaki gave the man a curt nod and the terror faded from his face, shoulders slumping forward as he began to speak. Jacklyn remained in Kyoya's arms the whole duration of the story, straining to translate his fast words in her head. Most of the time when she was talking to her friends or her teachers, they slowed down or made sure to enunciate their words so Jacklyn had an easier time understanding them. But when it came to strangers like this guy, once he started to cry around his words Jacklyn was almost completely lost.

Thankfully, as the story went on, Kyoya ducked his head and began to whisper the key details to her. Jacklyn nodded and smiled in thanks as he did so and tried to ignore the fact that he was holding her while the only thing she was wearing was Kyoya's school jacket and her underwear. She had blushed so much in the past few days… which couldn't be healthy. Her red face must be making her feelings super obvious to anyone who gave her any attention. Even her classmates from yesterday seemed to know what was going on with her and Kyoya. The longer she was in Kyoya's hold, the more she just wanted to bury her face into his chest and dissolve on the spot.

What if he figured out what was going through her head? Kyoya had been quiet for the past minute, so she knew he must be thinking hard about something-

"Doctor Yabu? I believe you may have the wrong school. Are you perhaps looking for Ourin Public Highschool?"

"Um… yeah?"

"I thought so. See, this is Ouran Academy. A private institution. Your daughter doesn't go to school here."

Jacklyn blinked, pulling away ever so slightly to look at Kyoya's face. That… made a lot of sense now that she thought about it. "So, this whole fiasco is because he got the names mixed up?"

"Seems like it."

"Wow, Kyo-chan! How'd you figure out he had the wrong school?"

"The man is in debt with only a failing business to his name. He wouldn't be able to afford to send his daughter to Ouran Academy, let alone have the right amount of social standing."

Jacklyn rolled her eyes. "Cold, but accurate, I suppose."

"Kyoya?" Tamaki prompted. "Would you please print off a map with directions to Ourin Public Highschool? I'd let to help this man find his daughter."

Jacklyn's breath caught as Kyoya's arms tightened around her briefly before falling away.

"Whatever you say, Tamaki." He then looked Jacklyn right in the eye, giving her left bicep a squeeze. "I'll be right back."

*Time Skip*

True to Kyoya's word, they were waving the doctor off in less than ten minutes from the window of the Special Clinic. It would've been even sooner if Kyoya hadn't notified the security guards of the situation. The last thing Doctor Yabu needed was to be tackled to the ground and arrested before he even got off of Ouran's property.

"Boss? Are you sure about this?"

"Even if he does manage to find his daughter, there's no guarantee she'll want to talk to him."

"Suppose there isn't."

Jacklyn hummed, leaning against the edge of the open window to watch Doctor Yabu walk away between the cherry blossom trees. "But we at least gave him a chance. Right?"

Tamaki gave her a small smile… followed by a teasing one as Kyoya moved to stand beside her, a comforting hand on her back. Jacklyn tensed up for a moment, then relaxed and stuck her tongue out at her friend. She was growing tired of always being on edge around her friend. If Kyoya wanted to comfort her, then damn it all she was going to let him be and enjoy it. Crush or no crush.

 _Besides, this is something none of the other girls will have._

"I'm sorry about this you guys, but you could please leave?"

"Uwah?"

Jacklyn ducked her head, giggling as Tamaki immediately took Haruhi's words as the worst possible option. The boy may be dumb, but at least he had his sweet nature going for him.

"Don't be ridiculous, Tamaki." She and Haruhi both smiled at the boys. "We just need to finish our physical exams."

"As a male student, in my case. And not because you're bribing me with food, either."

Jacklyn beamed.

"I'm doing it to pay back my debt!"

Her smile stiffened… and fell. Rolling her eyes, Jacklyn fought the urge to punch Haruhi in the shoulder. _One step forwards, two steps back._ Of course, Tamaki didn't seem to mind. He wrapped Haruhi up in a big hug regardless, swaying them around the room even as Haruhi complained.

"As sweet as this all is, we do need you guys to get out of here. I'm tired of standing around in my underwear." Jacklyn worked up the courage to meet Kyoya's questioning gaze. "I'll return your jacket after our year's physical exams. It's not like you'll need it before then."

And, much to Jacklyn's surprise and happiness…

Kyoya blushed.

* * *

 **Wow, I like this chapter much more than the last one.**

 **I really do enjoy using flashbacks to show Kyoya's feelings, don't I? Oh well… hopefully I won't need to use them in the upcoming chapters. :P I hope you're enjoying the rather overwhelming Kyolyn I'm shoving into every crack and crevice of this chapter. There's just so much cuteness I want to add into only 27 chapters...**

 **I want to thank you all for your patience! I ended up writing most of this at my grandmother's house with my brother's friend's noise-cancelling headphones on while my cousins ran while around me, so hopefully it's coherent enough to be enjoyable and make up for the long wait! Hopefully everyone else is having a less stressful summer than I am!**

 **See you next chapter!**


	4. Attack of the Lady Manager

**And the one that started it all! Jeez… more than three years since I first posted Dealing with Renge before completely scraping the whole project and rewriting the five chapters into two full-fledged stories about the relationship between my character and Kyoya.**

 **Good times.**

 **Thank you to Cleo4927, AmbertheCat, Shadowing, Wonderwomanbatmanfan, LMarie99, MvjM, Ariel2812, SpringBorn, Momochan77, ktmyldy28, caelestii.e, GhostCastle16, musiqueismyjam1041, Allie, pupstarstar, Fairytailshipper2017, XantheGrey, and 1 guest for your reviews! I'm sorry you had to wait so long for this. But I can honestly say that, as of right now, it's looking better and better for my writing muse and I finally have the energy and the passion to write fanfiction again. I do officially have a novel in the works, but the more I think about it... fanfiction is where I got my start. I can't leave you all hanging forever. So, here it is. I hope you find this is an appropriate apology for the long wait because I appreciate the heck out of you all!**

 **Disclaimer: Even after almost four years, I do not own Ouran Highschool Host Club. Nothing but Jacklyn.**

* * *

Attack of the Lady Manager!

The host club was abuzz with the general chatter. A floral perfume wafted through the air, setting everyone's nerves at ease. The lack of high pitched screaming was something Jacklyn was more than grateful for. Sure, she could ignore it most of the time, but some days she just… couldn't stand it.

Letting the flow of a soft classical piece wash over her ears instead, she carefully ran her fingers up and down the piano keys. Today she was sitting alone, but that wasn't a surprise. Kyoya had warned her that as the temperature outside got warmer, their guest numbers tended to dwindle a bit as the sports teams picked up. Later on, once the girls got used to their new, busier schedules, they would return. But for now, her guest list would only include-

"Mind if I sit?"

Kyoya didn't wait for a response before sitting beside her on the bench. Jacklyn's eyes never left the sheet music in front of her, but she couldn't help the small smile that sprung up on her face. It was just a knee-jerk reaction to hearing Kyoya's voice at this point. She did, however, stiffen a bit when she felt his fingers start to poke around her hair bun.

"Oh my… these pins are even more intricately designed than I first thought. They're quite beautiful."

"Thank you. Hitachiin-san said they would match my kimono and just… threw them in."

"Really? I didn't even see them on the bill. Hitachiin-san must have quite the soft spot for you. And they do match your kimono well… though the pins have gold accents instead of yellow. Their design is rather dazzling."

Jacklyn's fingers nearly slipped off their keys when she felt Kyoya's hand brush at her neck as he withdrew. "O-okay! Did you come here just to compliment me or is there something else you wanted to say?"

"Hmm… I suppose there is something else I wished to discuss with you, but that can wait until you finish with your piece."

"So, now?" With a final upward scale, Jacklyn closed her piece to a smattering of applause. She inclined her head towards the rest of the room before turning back to Kyoya. "Carry on."

"Very well." Kyoya shot her a smirk before lifting his black book. "I wanted some assistance with calculating any future sales of promotional items. Some of the guests have been asking about more, but I was hoping any future releases would have better quality."

"Better quality?"

"Yes. Those picture books we sold a few weeks ago were filled with nothing but amateur shots from hidden cameras. I was wondering if you had any ideas?"

"Aaaand what would be wrong with just taking better quality pictures?"

"Pulling money from the school's budget."

"Ah." Jacklyn grabbed the corner of the piano bench behind her, leaning back ever so slightly on her hands as she thought it over. "Well, if we want to avoid that… could we just do it ourselves? Professional photographer or not, if we got the others on board for a few photos from an everyday camera they'd still turn out pretty okay."

"Maybe. On the other hand we _could_ ask the guests for donations-"

" _Kyoya!_ "

"That was a joke."

Jacklyn scrunched her face up, trying to hold the sour look, but eventually it fell away into a smile. "You're such a jerk."

"And you are remarkably dry eyed for today's theme." Kyoya leaned in and Jacklyn's breath caught. Her elbows shook as she tried to lean further away from her crush's face. "I could have sworn I saw Hikaru slipping some eye drops into your folder of music sheets."

"Y-yeah. He did. I didn't use them because I wouldn't have been able to read my music."

Kyoya nodded. "Very wise of you. I almost went to warn you against using them myself when I noticed, but I reasoned that you'd be able to make the best choice for yourself."

"Ah… thanks, Kyoya." Her arms were starting to cramp, but Kyoya was still far too close.

He didn't seem to notice her discomfort, grey eyes locked on her brown ones. "I'm glad you didn't use them. While some of our guests appear to faun over their hosts struggling to hold back tears… to be entirely truthful I don't think seeing you in the same situation would've brought out the same result. No one should wish to see you cry."

There's a lump in Jacklyn's through as she struggles for a response. How was she supposed to respond to that? Why did Kyoya look like he was getting closer? She couldn't look away from his eyes… what was he-

Her hand slipped.

A high-pitched yelp escaped as Jacklyn fell back, her hands flailing about in an attempt to steady herself. Kyoya's eyes widened as he hastily reached forward, grabbing at her arms. By the time they stopped moving, Kyoya was standing halfway off the bench and it almost looked like he was dipping Jacklyn backwards in a dance move, his left arm wrapped around her back while his right held her arms between their bodies. A few seconds passed and neither of them spoke a word. Jacklyn could hardly breathe at all.

Then the clock tower rang, signalling the end of hosting hours, and the spell broke.

Kyoya eased Jacklyn back onto the piano bench before taking a full two steps backwards, adjusting his glasses as he did so. Jacklyn simply did her best to pretend like her heart wasn't about to beat out of her chest. Kyoya cleared his throat and she jumped a bit.

"I…" He cleared his throat again. "I think I see Tamaki attempting to harass Haruhi with affection again. Shall we?"

Jacklyn peeked up, immediately taking note of the pink blush coating Kyoya's cheeks before nodding quietly and rushing off in the direction of the other hosts. She'd pick up her music sheets later. Once her hands stopped shaking.

True to Kyoya's word, by the time Jacklyn reached her neighbor's side, Tamaki had already piled a mountain of sweets into her hands and was now contemplating other ways to make her "fall" for him. She couldn't help but watch the scene with a bit of envy. _I wish I had his confidence when talking to_ my _crush._

Haruhi gently nudged Jacklyn's side with an elbow. "Hey… who's that?"

"Hm?"

Jacklyn and Tamaki looked over to the corner Haruhi was indicating at the same time. A girl was standing just outside the doors, half of her face covered by the frame as she peeked inside. Jacklyn didn't recognize her… but she was so terrible with faces and names that didn't necessarily mean anything.

"Oh ho? Looks like the host club has a brand new guest!" The twins charged forward, voices silky smooth as they offered roses in an attempt to lure the girl further into the room. Jacklyn was tempted to ask Kyoya if he knew the girl, but with her skin still prickling from the way he'd held her earlier, she held her tongue for now.

Tamaki walked up behind the twins and casually smacked the back of their heads. "Knock it off, you two. Is that any way to treat a new guest? Honestly, I don't know _who_ taught you proper courtesy, because you _certainly_ didn't get it from me. Now…" He turned away from the twins and gave the new girl a wide grin, gently reaching out his hand to cup her chin. "My Princess, I welcome you to the Ouran Host Club. Won't you please tell us your name?"

The girl hesitated, but the other hosts just watched on in silence. Jacklyn smiled softly as her friend put his best foot forward. Call him what you will, but Tamaki certainly didn't skim when it came to giving girls attention. This new girl was already blushing _hard_ as she stared up at Tamaki's face.

Then she smacked him.

"No! Get your filthy paws off me, you Faker!"

Jacklyn let out a small yelp of her own when she saw Tamaki get hit across the face. A warm hand immediately came up to her back to steady her, and she might've blushed if the new girl's screechy voice wasn't busy making her cringe.

"You shouldn't go spreading your love around so easily like cheap butter, you stupid! You must be a dimwitted narcissist if you think that's what women want to hear! You're too incompetent to be a part of this club! You're a _commoner!_ You're _disgusting!_ "

Jacklyn's mouth was completely open as she watched one of her best friends collapse to the floor, eyes full of pain and tears. Her heart broke for him. Who was this girl to judge what others wanted? And Tamaki might be a bit of a narcissist, but he spread so much love because _he had that much love to give._ This girl didn't know Tamaki in any way that allowed her to make such a claim! Who did this girl think she was?

As if he could sense her rising blood pressure, Kyoya began rubbing his thumb in soothing circles on Jacklyn's back before he spoke, "Forgive me, but, you are..?"

The girl gasped. "It's you… Kyoya!"

Jacklyn barely had time to be offended by the new girl using Tamaki as her personal springboard before she was being shoved to the side and onto the ground. Honey was beside immediately, helping her sit up. From the floor, she watched as the new girl threw her arms around Kyoya's chest and squeezed him in a tight hug.

"How I've longed to meet you! My one and only prince charming! My perfect and wonderful fiancé!"

Everyone in the room let out a gasp. Those still standing took a full step back from the embracing couple. Then they looked down at Jacklyn. Their hearts lurched at the look on her face and the very real tears in her eyes.

The mark of a true host had only cost her one heartbreak.

*\/*

Jacklyn wasn't looking at anyone.

She had heard Tamaki shuffling himself over to the far corner to sulk a while ago and almost felt the drive to join him. But she couldn't do that. That would make her feelings all too obvious, and the last thing she needed to do was make Kyoya feel guilty for having a-

Her heart lurched into her throat, and she pushed the thought aside. No. She would _not_ cry while she was still here. Instead, she waited for Haruhi to suggest that they move to a collection of couches and get the full story before drifting off to the piano bench. Her fingers shook as she slowly packed her music sheets away. She felt unnaturally cold except for her eyes, which felt hot and irritated. Her bottom lip quivered unless she bit down on it.

"Um… so, you're Kyoya-senpai's _fiancé?_ "

"Of course I am! My name is Renge Houshakuji, and I'll be transferring to Ouran Academy's Class 1-A tomorrow to be closer to my beloved Kyoya!"

Jacklyn stopped moving, her breath now shaky as more tears threatened to fall. A hand gently touched her shoulder and she jumped, looking down so her hair curtained the sides of her face.

"Jacklyn-senpai?" Haruhi. "Want to go fetch Tamaki for us?"

She thought about it for a moment, then shook her head. She couldn't risk her brave face falling apart where the others could see it. Haruhi gave her shoulder another squeeze, but she let her friend be all the same.

"Our story is one of true love at first sight!" Renge started going on and on about her relationship with Kyoya and Jacklyn did her best to control how her shoulders shook with repressed sobs. She tried not to listen, but Renge's voice just rubbed her the wrong way, forcing Jacklyn to cling to every word. Though… there were some things that surprised her.

She hadn't realized that Kyoya had the time to go on strolls just to admire the flowers, unless he was doing research for the club. And rescuing an injured kitten was awfully sweet… but Kyoya struck her as the type to call an animal shelter and have them take care of it instead. And that was only if he looked out his limo's window long enough to spot it. Was there really a whole side to Kyoya that Jacklyn didn't know? If she was missing such a big part of Kyoya's personality, then maybe she didn't deserve to have a crush on him in the first place.

She really was no better than Kyoya's other guests.

"Um… do you think you maybe have the wrong guy-"

"No way, I'd recognize my Kyoya anywhere!"

Jacklyn choked back a sob. A part of her wanted to thank Haruhi for trying, but she mostly just wanted to be alone. There was no time for her to be getting her hopes up. She should be doing everything in her power to push through the 5 stages of grief as fast as possible before she let something slip in front of Kyoya or embarrassed herself in front of him.

That being said… if Renge kept gushing about Kyoya's sweet side that no one else was aware of, Jacklyn might break down soon whether she wanted to or not.

"He looks like the star of the popular dating sim 'Uki Doki Memorial'! You're my real life Ichijo Miyabi!"

A jumble of piano notes filled the stunned silence that followed Renge's announcement. Jacklyn's cheeks were red as she stared down at her fingers, which had hit the piano keys as she scrambled to grab her falling music sheets. Had… did Renge just say…

"Uki?"

"Doki?"

"OTAKU!"

"And proud to be one!" Renge happily twirled off, having a grand time fantasizing about her future wedding while everyone else scrambled around trying to piece together the puzzle. Jacklyn stayed still on her piano bench, watching everything with wide eyes and lips in a straight line. She didn't dare get her hopes up just yet though…

She didn't notice Kyoya try to catch her eye, purposefully staring at Haruhi instead as the other girl was shaken around by the twins.

"I get it now. You're in love with the character and, since we look similar, you've projected your love onto me, as well as your personal fantasy of what you wish your relationship with the character was like."

That got everyone to shut up real quick.

Tamaki inched over to the couch Kyoya was sitting on, peering over his shoulder. "So… she made it up? You're not really engaged to her?"

"Not at all. I've never even met the girl before today. _Ow-_ " Kyoya winced, one hand coming up to rub at his newly sore arm. Hikaru stood off to the side by his brother, shaking out his hand as he glared at Kyoya. "What was that for?"

"You couldn't have said that sooner?"

Kyoya didn't understand for another two seconds before it clicked in his mind. Turning towards the piano again, he saw that Jacklyn was once again facing away from the group, slowly packing up her music. She was still upset… so was she upset like Tamaki was earlier, because she thought he'd been keeping a secret from her? Or…

A body suddenly throwing itself onto the cushion side him had Kyoya whipping his head around. To no one's surprise, Renge was gazing up at him imploringly… but he couldn't help but note the new strain in her smile. He looked away, folding his arms across his chest, uncomfortable.

"So, according to my research you're this club's manager, right Kyoya?"

Honey pushed his head in between Renge's and Kyoya's, forcing the girl to lean back. "Kyo-chan's our vice president, so when he's not hosting he acts like our director-"

"So you're the director, oh, that's perfect! I've always wanted to help in advertising by wearing a sandwich board! Welp, I suppose that settles it! I guess I'm your club's new manager! I can't wait to work with you boys!"

"Wait, what?" Jacklyn stood up from her piano bench, her sheet folder tucked under her arm as she made her way to the group. "I'm sorry Ms. Houshakuji, but what do you intend to do as our manager?"

"Oh, you're still here?" All movement in the room stopped when Renge's voice dropped the cheerful lift. She planted her hands on her hips as she raised an eyebrow at Jacklyn. "I thought all the other guests had already left."

Jacklyn stopped, stunned by the girl's tone. "I… I'm not a guest. I'm the musician."

"Really? Is that why you were flirting with the boys earlier? I haven't heard you play at all since I've been here."

 _She saw. She saw us. Me and Kyoya on the piano bench._ Jacklyn's breath caught in her chest as the pieces fell into place. _She thinks-_

"Jacklyn-senpai _is_ our musician, Renge. She's been a part of the Host Club almost since it began last year, when she first arrived here."

"She's an exchange student?"

" _She's_ standing right in front of you and can answer your questions better than the others. And yes, I am."

Renge raised both of her eyebrows this time, looking her up and down. "Alright. No need to be rude, you know."

Off to the side, Kyoya was watching the exchange with tightly pressed lips. Was Renge really saying 'no need to be rude' after how she was speaking to Jacklyn just now? Unfortunately, he finally remembered why Renge's last name sounded so familiar. Her father was a rather important business client of Kyoya's father, meaning he had to treat _Renge_ kindly, too. An order he relayed to Tamaki when asked.

Even though… their hospitality might become rather dependent on how Renge treated Jacklyn in return.

*\/*

School stopped being fun really quickly after that. The next morning, as Jacklyn attempted to approach Kyoya and Tamaki in the front of the school, Renge swooped out of nowhere and practically hung herself off Kyoya's arm like a personal coat hanger. His expression of distaste was brief, but it did nothing to stop Renge from sending Jacklyn the most _scathing_ expression she'd ever received at Ouran before she dragged Kyoya inside.

Lunch and Homeroom were just as bad, Renge appearing like she'd just dropped from the ceiling before Jacklyn could exchange more than two words with Kyoya. By the time hosting hours came around, Jacklyn had all but given up trying. If Renge was determined to hate her, and Kyoya's father wanted them all to be kind to her, maybe it was better for the two of them to be as far away from each other as possible.

Even if Renge shoved a bag of black charred cookies into Jacklyn's hands the moment she walked through the club doors that afternoon.

Renge's other bag of cookies didn't look all that edible either, but at least they didn't look like lumps of coal. Jacklyn watched as she presented the nicer cookies to Kyoya with the most flowery language possible. It left an awful bitter taste in her mouth, reminding her of when she baked the hosts cookies for Valentine's Day only a few months ago. They repaid her on White Day by giving her six whole boxes of white chocolate goodies. A brief smile flickered over her face before a whiff of burnt cookies brought her back to the present.

With a sigh, she watched Renge chase Honey and Mori around the room while Jacklyn dumped the bag into the trash. It wasn't Valentine's Day anymore. She had to face reality. If Kyoya was pretending to be Renge's fiancé just because his father said so, who's to say that he wouldn't become her _real_ fiancé sometime in the future, just to keep her happy? It wouldn't be the first arranged marriage she'd seen since becoming a student here, but it still sent a knife though Jacklyn's heart to think about it. She couldn't help but think it, though. She'd been up until the early morning hours, unable to sleep because she couldn't stop thinking about what Renge could make Kyoya do to appeal to her whims…

"All your characters except for Kyoya's are lukewarm!"

Jacklyn spun around at Renge's shout, along with the others. They stared as Renge began on a long winded speech about creating dark sides for their 'characters'. What characters she was talking about, Jacklyn had no idea. But she did have a bad feeling about it.

"As your new manager it's my job to start changing your character backgrounds, starting with you!" She jabbed a finger in Honey's direction, causing the small boy to squeak in fear. "If all you are is cute inside and out, that makes you no more interesting and annoying than a baby. So from now on your inside is going to be ruthless and blood-thirsty, the "Baby-faced Thug"! Along with his flunky childhood friend, Mori-senpai, who follows Honey-senpai around trying to lead him back into the light, even when he ends up the one being punched!"

She continued on with the other boys, changing their lives and personalities like she was implementing new memories. And eventually, she arrived at Jacklyn.

"And then there's _you_. The lonely exchange student with no friends, no family, and limited language skills, only able to communicate your feelings through music… Yes, you're the loner girl who pushes away anyone who tries to get close, but you play love songs on your piano because you crave a relationship, even though you only ever develop feelings for those who are unobtainable for you! The Heartless Romantic!"

Jacklyn's heart dropped to her toes. _Heartless?_ She's calling me _heartless?_

There were no words. Absolutely no words at all to describe what she was feeling right now. Especially not when Renge suddenly spun around and started doting over Kyoya, calling him perfect and affectionate. Just how "affectionate" was she talking here?

Jacklyn jumped a bit when two arms suddenly draped themselves over her shoulders.

"O _kay_ , I think it's time for us all to start heading home."

"We certainly have a lot of stuff to process tonight."

"So, if we're not hosting today." Hikaru and Kaoru spun Jacklyn around and started steering her towards the doors. "Good afternoon, everyone."

Jacklyn lasted until they were at the other end of the North Hallway. A few tears slipped out and she rubbed at them with her hands, the three of them stopping just at the top of the staircase. She managed a weak smile when she looked back up at them. "Thanks for that, you guys. I dunno what I'd do without you."

Hikaru shrugs like it was no big deal, but Kaoru carefully patted the top of her head as he hummed, "Not a problem. We didn't want to be in there any longer, anyways."

"Yeah… besides, you kinda had the same expression that Tamaki-senpai did when he hit the ceiling."

A snort of laughter bubbled out before Jacklyn could stop it, along with a few more tears. "R-really? Oh no… he looked so st-st… he looked really dumb when he did that. Did I really?" Some weak laughter escaped as Hikaru and Kaoru's arms returned to her shoulders, leading her down the stairs. Ducking her head to wipe away the newest tears, she spotted her school bag swinging from Hikaru's hand along with his own, and she cried a little more.

"You're… you're being so kind to me. Do you… you remember how you used to… you didn't like me?"

"Yeah, we do, Jacklyn-senpai."

"Back when we were young and stupid."

She couldn't tell if she was laughing or crying now. "You're not st-stupid!"

"Agree to disagree."

Jacklyn tried to swat at their chests, but they dodged out of the way before coming back to her side. They walked in silence up to the front doors before Hikaru spoke up again, "You probably don't have to worry about Renge much longer, Jacklyn-senpai."

"She's running all of us ragged, especially Kyoya. Mostly because of how she's been treating you."

"I'm sure he'll snap-"

"-any day now."

Jacklyn dropped her hands from her face, now rubbing at her arms instead. "Maybe… if his father lets him."

The twins glance at each other over her head, but say nothing.

*\/*

"Sir? Ms. Renge has instructed us to send Ms. Jacklyn to the kitchen to help prepare the workman's meal break."

"Put her in the editing tent. She'll be their 3rd person consultant for the best angles for the movie."

"Yes, Sir."

The words exchanged between Tamaki and the Deputy Director had echoed in Jacklyn's ears for the past hour as she sat in a dark room, occasionally throwing in her own opinion on whatever scene was currently on the television screen. She wasn't sure if she was more moved by how much effort Tamaki was putting into keeping her in the loop, or if she was disappointed by how it wasn't Kyoya.

It wasn't Kyoya who tried to argue with Renge to let Jacklyn have a role in the movie. It wasn't Kyoya who put his foot down when Renge tried to keep Jacklyn off the film set in its entirety. It wasn't Kyoya who gave the crew special instructions so that she could still have a hand in the film's process. In fact, she hadn't seen much of Kyoya at all today, other than in class. And even with the other hosts trying to distract her, there was no quieting Renge's loud voice as she gushed about the homemade lunch she'd made for Kyoya while leading him down the hallway.

Even with the others insisting that Kyoya was now actively trying to shake Renge off his tail and he apparently looked disappointed whenever he lost the chance to speak with Jacklyn, it still hurt.

A tap on her shoulder snapped Jacklyn out of her thoughts. The woman who'd nudged her watched with soft eyes as Jacklyn apologized for zoning out.

"It's quite alright. As much as I hate the rumor mill that comes with filming a movie, word does get around about the cast…"

Jacklyn was positive her cheeks were bright red, so she looked down at her lap. "Oh?"

"Mmm. Well, we've gone through all the footage we have so far. Why don't you take a break now, okay? Unless you get sent somewhere else, you can come back and help some more. You've got a great eye."

She was sure the compliments were just to make her feel better, but Jacklyn nodded anyways and murmured her gratitude before slipping out of the hastily made tent. A few of the stagehands waved at her, and she waved back. If there was only one good thing that came of today, Jacklyn was currently surrounded by other English speakers for the first time since winter break. It was nice being able to brush off her native language for something other than helping others study it.

Skirting the forest set, a hint of mist from the faux rain landed on Jacklyn's face and arms. It felt good. It might be spring, but it was a rather warm day. Thankfully, Jacklyn had found a short-sleeve shirt in the club's prop closet along with what she was sure were tuxedo pants, but if they didn't want someone to wear these pants then they shouldn't have put them up in the prop closet.

Jacklyn heard Renge's shouting long before she spotted anyone. Coming around the final corner of the stage, she spotted Renge hunched over one of the cameras with who Jacklyn assumed was the Director. She was distracted. Good.

Hoping to not be seen, Jacklyn ducked around the various metal stands and cameras to where Hikaru, Kaoru, Kyoya, and Haruhi were relaxing. They hadn't spotted her approaching yet, either.

"And another thing, why does this stupid script portray Kaoru as the Pitcher?"

"Yeah, that totally goes against what we portray for our guests!"

"But this movie isn't _for_ your guests. Or, not entirely, at least."

The four hosts immediately smiled upon noticing Jacklyn standing with them. At least, for a few seconds. Then their expressions fell and more than one glance in Renge's direction was cast. Kyoya lowered his journal to his side, taking a few careful steps around Hikaru's chair until he was standing next to Jacklyn. The closest they'd been since Renge first introduced herself. Jacklyn tried to quell her racing heart.

"What did you mean by we're not making the movie for our guests?"

"Because Renge wants to change your characters and personalities to fit her game Uki Doki better. I did some research, and other than Haruhi and I the new character roles she gave you guys perfectly match the other characters in her game. I think this is just the next step for her to dive deeper into her Ichijo Miyabi fantasy. The more she can make Kyoya like Miyabi, the more she gets to live her fantasy of engagement. So, this is a movie for Renge before anyone else, with all of her personal head canons involved. That's not to say the guests won't enjoy it at all… but it's not technically _for_ them, I'd have to say."

Haruhi and the twins let out long 'oh's as they took another look at the script. When Jacklyn glanced up at Kyoya's face, she was completely unprepared for the proud half-smile he was giving her. Heart thudding in her chest, she quickly looked away.

"How clever of you to research Ms. Houshakuji's game. When did you first suspect that's what she was doing?"

"Yesterday, I guess? She came up with those character backgrounds too quickly to have not given it a lot of thought or to already have those character ideas in her mind somewhere. Even though I can't help but wonder if she was just trying to be mean… because your character also has a few faults in the game that she completely ignores while the other character's she exaggerated their faults."

"Hm. Seems as though I have a fan."

"You already had plenty of those before Renge showed up! And at least they didn't obsess over you! And they actually thought they liked _you_ , not a completely different person who _looks_ like you. Besides, even compared to Miyabi you're-"

Kyoya took a step closer and Jacklyn's breath caught. There was barely a gap between their bodies, they were so close. She felt dimly aware of Haruhi and the twins nearby, probably watching the two of them closely and with baited breath.

"I'm..." He goaded.

"I… I meant… well, you're… you're more-"

"Jacklyn! If you have enough free time to chit-chat and distract my actors, you can do this new job I found for you! Come around here!"

Renge's voice brought reality back and Jacklyn moved away from Kyoya. She refused to analyze what his fallen expression meant as she followed Renge around the corner of the school building. Renge gave a disappointing sniff when Jacklyn approached, but she didn't care anymore. As of this moment, Renge had officially won.

She hadn't won fairly, but that hardly mattered now. Jacklyn wouldn't break Renge's heart, even if she thought Renge was an entitled brat. She refused to be labeled a homewrecker or a mistress. Besides… she would be leaving soon. Two more years. Less than two years, actually. And then Renge wouldn't have to worry about Jacklyn's crush on Kyoya ever again.

"Right, so here's what I need your help with."

Jacklyn looked up from the ground and nearly had a heart attack. Standing in front of her and Renge were two ferocious looking guys snarling down at the two of them, both of them easily over 6 feet tall. It was only when she realized they were both wearing Ouran uniforms that she managed to relax just a tad, their expressions becoming less vicious in her eye the longer she looked at them.

Renge spun around and gestured to the boys like she would present a painting at an art museum. "These lovely gentlemen have graciously agreed to appear in my film!"

"Film? What film?"

"You just asked us to come help you out with something, you didn't say anything about a-"

"After all, we're gonna need some tough guys to play our villains for the climax. That's when the host club finally comes together to destroy the _real_ evil in their school. According to the script, these two come from families who only got their wealth by being a part of the Yakuza!"

"H-hey! That's not true!"

"My grandfather's life had nothing to do with me!"

"Jacklyn, I need you to catch these boys up to speed on what we've already filmed so they can get a feel for the mood, then run through a few possible stunts for them to use on camera. Maybe a choke-hold would work?"

"What's with this girl?"

The boys looked really upset now, the tallest one turning to Jacklyn with tears in his eyes. "I would never try to hurt you, you're a sweet girl! You're the one who gave me back my homework assignment after I accidentally dropped in in the hallway!"

Jacklyn sputtered, "Renge, hold on, aren't you listening? They don't want to be in the movie! Why can't we just find someone else?"

"Why would we do that? These guys are perfect!"

"No! They're not! Just because someone looks a certain way doesn't mean they don't have a personality under it, too! You're just generalizing and stereotyping and it's not right-"

"Ugh!" Renge rolled her eyes and grabbed the shorter guy by the arm. "Well if you're not gonna help me then I'll just direct them myself. Now you come over here and wait for you cue!"

The guy managed to pull free, his eyes narrowing. "You think you can push me around? You don't know a thing about me!" This friend called out for him to stop, but by then it was too late. The arm Renge had been holding onto pulled back before roughly shoving her to the side.

Renge, not prepared for the push and wearing heels on rocky terrain, let out a shriek as she stumbled towards a leaning pile of wooden beams and lighting equipment.

"Watch out!" Haruhi came running around the side of the building, throwing herself between Renge and the metal poles, getting squished between them in the process. Jacklyn ran forward as Haruhi slid to the ground, one hand rubbing at her face.

The tall guy was staring in shock at Haruhi and Renge, who was now crouched down as well. "I… I'm sorry-"

Jacklyn cut him off, frantically gesturing towards the front gates. "Get out of here, go! Before a teacher comes!" The guy seemed frozen for a second before his friend grabbed him by the back of his school jacket and hauled ass in the opposite direction. Only then did Jacklyn turn around and crouch between Haruhi and Renge.

"Haruhi? Renge? Are you both okay?"

Haruhi made a groaning sound and winced, still rubbing at her eye, but Renge's head practically shot straight up like a dog that had just heard the front door open. She stared at Jacklyn for a long moment until Tamaki came racing around the corner, sliding to his knees on Haruhi's other side. Renge backed away, giving the two 2nd years space.

Jacklyn hovered nervously by Tamaki's shoulder as he gently cradled Haruhi's face in his hands. And as worried as she was for her friend, she couldn't help but feel somewhat… jealous. Obviously not about the pain she was feeling, but how Tamaki clearly cared for her and her well-being. Must be nice...

Haruhi finally let out a relieved sigh, pushing Tamaki's hands away while showing off her right pointer finger. On top of which sat a contact. "Got it. Must've gotten knocked out of place."

"So… you're not crying out of pain?"

"What? No. Renge's like a feather, I barely bumped this stuff." She kicked the nearby board for good measure before carefully cradling the contact in her palm. "I should probably get home and put this back in… Senpai? What is it?"

Jacklyn also wanted to know why Tamaki was laughing all of the sudden, his head thrown back as his own tears of mirth dusted the corners of his eyes. The two girls watched as Tamaki forced out the words, "You did it! You're able to cry without using eye drops! You're officially a true host, Haruhi! Well done!"

Even if they hadn't found Tamaki's logic hilarious (which they did), ignoring Tamaki's bouncing laughter was easier said than done, and soon enough all three of them were laughing, leaning against each other or the wall for support.

"That... was... _perfect!_ Please tell me you got that, cameraman!" The laughter stopped as soon as Renge spoke again. "The ideal final scene! So long as we cut out the footage of Haruhi's contact falling out, it's practically made of gold! All we need to do now is film my precious Kyoya delivering a moving narration to the thugs to make them change their ways and edit him into Jacklyn's place!"

 _Crunch_

The sharp noise made everyone jump, even Renge going quiet as they turned to see Kyoya standing by the camera, holding a rock against the now broken lens. Jacklyn gradually stood up, helping Haruhi to her feet, but her eyes never left Kyoya.

"Is… something wrong? What did you do that for?"

"Terribly sorry, Ms. Houshakuji, but I'm afraid this little game of yours has gone on for far too long. I can not allow there to be any record of a club member being involved in a violent act. It would reflect badly on them, the club, and the offending party regardless of being provoked or not. Moreover, your blatant disregard for the safety of others is more than a little worrisome and offensive, considering you made the mistake of attempting to put someone I deeply care for in the cross-hairs on purpose. I think you've caused enough trouble around here, Renge. Please stop being such a pest."

The courtyard fell quiet, save for Renge's tearful sniffles. As the rest of the host club walked into the courtyard, her sobs slowly growing louder and louder. She took a small step back, eyes darting over to Jacklyn briefly before returning to Kyoya. She took in a breath before shouting, "But you're supposed to be on my side! You're supposed to pat my head and say 'don't worry about it'! You're supposed to be kind and affectionate! You're supposed to like _me_ , not… n-not…"

"Nah, not our Kyoya."

Tamaki gave Renge a gentle smile before continuing, " _Our_ Kyoya is much harsher than your game character. He likes cold, hard facts, spicy food, and doing kind things in secret, roundabout ways. If you're looking for someone like Miyabi, you're not going to find him in Kyoya."

Renge gave a few more sniffles before she collapsed forward onto her knees, tears now pouring down the sides of her face. Despite everything, Jacklyn couldn't help but feel a little bad for the girl. Rude as she'd been, Jacklyn knew first hand how painful a broken heart could be.

Haruhi stepped forward. "You aren't thinking that all hope is lost, are you? I hope you're not."

"H-huh?"

"Well, like Senpai said, if you're looking for a real-world Miyabi, you're not gonna find him in Kyoya, but that doesn't mean you'll _never_ find him. If you keep looking, one day you'll find someone who makes you feel just as special as Miyabi does now. And even if he looks or acts different than you expect, if you get to know someone, little by little… well, you might find something you like even better than your expectations! It's a lot more fun that way, besides!"

Renge stared up at Haruhi for a moment before her gaze dropped to her knees once more. "I… I think I understand. Kyoya and I… We're meant for different people. People who want to get to know us, little by little. Right?"

Her eyes lift back up, finding Jacklyn in the crowd as Haruhi whispered, "Right."

*\/*

"Welcome ladies! Today, we will be holding a group hosting event to make up for the two days we were closed! Come on in and find a seat!"

Jacklyn stood back from the doorway and smiled as the girls flooded past her. Most of them offering her kind greetings or, if they wanted to be cheeky, little hints about how they saw Jacklyn and Kyoya back at each other's side. She just gave those guests an eye roll and a head shake… even if she blushed a little.

The host club hadn't heard much from Renge since yesterday afternoon. Haruhi, Hikaru, and Kaoru reported to them that the girl had been remarkably quiet in class and only exchanged pleasant greetings with them early that morning. According to the latest gossip, she was set to get on a plane and head back to France before the day was out. Many assumed she'd be gone as soon as the final bell rang.

Jacklyn couldn't tell if Renge was really going to leave without saying goodbye or what, but considered that it might be better if she did. There was still a lot she had to apologize for before she tried acting like their friend, even if she had suffered heartbreak not even a full 24 hours ago. And there was no telling how she'd talk to Jacklyn now.

And there was still that weird vibe she had left lingering between Jacklyn and Kyoya. While the guests might not be able to feel it, Jacklyn definitely could. Their knuckles had brushed that morning while they walked into the school and the shock of it had them both pulling away like they'd been bitten. Eye contact was almost impossible, at least for Jacklyn. She had no idea if Kyoya had realized her crush for him during yesterday's excitement, though she was starting to think he did. Meanwhile, she didn't know if Kyoya _liked_ her or if he just wanted to be her friend. He had called her someone that he cared about yesterday, but he had also let the situation get to that point by not telling Renge to step off… Jacklyn just didn't know what to think anymore.

Taking a seat next to Kaoru, making all the hosts accounted for, the guests opened the floodgates.

"I bought a copy of the movie you all made!"

"Me too!"

"So did I!"

"Oh, the rain scene with Hikaru and Kaoru was just phenomenal!"

"Thug Honey was so cute and angsty!"

"Jacklyn and Tamaki taking care of Haruhi is my new favorite thing in the world!"

The comments just kept coming. Requests for a sequel and cosplay days with everyone getting back into their movie characters ripped through the crowd of girls like wildfire. As they started gushing to each other, temporarily ignoring the hosts, Tamaki slowly turned around in his seat.

"Kyoya? Mind explaining yourself?"

"I only damaged the camera lens to make a point. The film inside said camera, however, was perfectly intact, and we'd already gone through the trouble of filming everything, it seemed a shame to put our afternoon to waste. Even with paying for the camera and the production of the movies, our profits are looking up. We should make enough from the sales to have a decent cushion in our budget for the next school year." His smile faded a bit as he turned to look directly at Jacklyn, whose eyes fell to her lap. "Jacklyn? Would you mind going over the budget with me after club activities? I can always use an extra pair of eyes."

 _Should she?_

"Good afternoon, everyone." The voice was almost unrecognizable. Soft and careful rather than demanding and screechy. Jacklyn whipped around, eyes wide when she realized Renge was standing not two feet from where she was sitting down.

"Renge?" Tamaki sounded as shocked as Jacklyn felt. "But, I heard you were on your way back to France?"

"I've spoken to my father and decided to stay here. We've agreed that this school has good luck for love, because even though I didn't find what I was looking for I did find what I needed!"

The words practically ripped Jacklyn's heart out of her chest. Did Renge… want to try again with Kyoya? Get to know him, like Haruhi suggested? Not sure if she'd be able to take it, Jacklyn stood up to leave.

But before she could escape, Renge reached out and grabbed her arm. "Wait, it's not what you think. I wanted to apologize for how awful I was to you, Jacklyn. You didn't deserve it, and I can only imagine the pain you went through. You're such a kind person, you even checked to see if I had been injured despite everything I said and did to you. I now see why Kyoya tried so hard to calm me down and change my opinion of you these past few days, but I was blinded by my jealousy. I hope one day you'll forgive me, and maybe we can even become friends. I promise that from now on I'll stay out of the way of real love!"

Jacklyn didn't think. She just reacted. She heard Renge say the words 'real love' and immediately her eyes flickered over to where Kyoya was watching from behind the couch. His face was pink, just as hers must be, and their eyes locked.

Sucking in a sharp breath, Jacklyn pulled herself out of Renge's grip and nodded, trying to come up with a good escape route in her head. What was she supposed to do now? How was she going to face Kyoya-

"Jacklyn? Could I have a word?"

 _Oh god, it's now. It's happening now._ Jacklyn felt all the blood in her body rush to her toes so fast she was surprised she didn't pass out. She looked around for help, or maybe an out, but the girls were still talking about the movie and the rest of the club seemed to be trying to pry Haruhi from Renge's grip.

So she just nods and follows Kyoya to the back of the room. Her mouth felt unnaturally dry as the two of them stopped far enough away so the others wouldn't hear them. They faced each other, even though Jacklyn's eyes were on their shoes, and she had no plans of lifting them for the duration of this conversation. It would just make her anxiety all the worse-

"Jacklyn? Could you please look at me?"

Or… not? She considers it temporarily before shaking her head.

"I suppose I had to try." Kyoya's words paused just long enough for Jacklyn to gasp as he grabbed her hands and brought them up between their chests. "I was hoping to be able to see your face while I confessed to you."

Jacklyn didn't think she was breathing at all. Had he… was he…

"I'm sorry that I didn't do this sooner, and especially for not making it clear during this Renge business that my feelings belonged to you, not her. I hurt you, and I won't bother with asking for your forgiveness, because I don't deserve it. Instead, I ask that you give me a chance. And I will do everything in my power to not let you doubt my feelings for you again."

She didn't know when she had finally started looking up. If she asked Kyoya, he'd probably be able to tell her, but there were so many other, better things for her to ask him right now. Questions that involved the words 'when', 'where', 'why', 'how', and-

"Jacklyn Prout, would you do me the honor of being my girlfriend?"

Words won't work at first, so she nods instead. A big smile spreads across her face and she pulls her hands away, pressing them against her cheeks. "Oh my gosh… did that just happen? Did that really just happen?"

"Yes, I believe it did." Kyoya's eyes were bright, and while his smile was small and still more of a smirk than anything, it was as genuine as the flush on his cheeks and the tips of his ears which was just _so endearing._ Giggles were bursting out from between Jacklyn's lips as she covered her face, still trying to process all of the emotions now flooding through her body. This couldn't be real life…

But the kiss to her forehead disagreed.

Dropping her hands almost immediately, she stared at her newly decreed boyfriend as he looked away, blush still running rampant across his cheeks. His ears were dark red now. He glanced at her from out the corner of his eye. "I… might not be as openly affectionate as Renge wanted me to be, but I hope you don't mind… small doses?"

Jacklyn blinked a few times before her laughter spilled out some more. "Oh gosh, you're such an uncool dork." She didn't see his expression due to her taking a step forward and pressing her face against his chest, forehead against his shoulder. "But you're _my_ uncool dork, now."

She feels his hands slowly ease themselves awkwardly between her waist and her hips. "Oh, am I now?"

"Yes. No take backs."

The chest pressed against her face jumps a bit in muffled laughter, but before Jacklyn can say anything further to provoke more, a shout echoes throughout the music room.

"Well, it's about time, you two!"

Jacklyn jerks her head up right as the host club and all their guests break into applause, watching them from the other side of the room. Hikaru and Kaoru let out a mixture of wolf-whistles and variations of the word "Hallelujah" while Tamaki appeared to be trying not to sob outright. She spotted Renge hanging out near the back of the group. She was smiling and nodding, clapping along with everyone else.

Kyoya's hands hesitated for a moment before they slid off, trailing down Jacklyn's arms until he was holding her hands. Their faces were really close when they looked at each other, but it didn't feel as awkward as the other times before. Instead, Jacklyn allowed herself to get lost in the warm look in Kyoya's eyes.

"Don't worry, we'll find some way to get back at them for breaking the moment."

Jacklyn blinked three times in rapid succession before breaking into laughter yet again, laying her head on his shoulder again. "That sounds perfect. It's perfect, Kyoya."

* * *

 **aaaaaaaaaaaaAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA** _ **AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH**_ **!**

 **Before anyone worries, I am going to continue on through the whole show, I promise. But lookit! As an apology for being such a shitty updater! Since next semester is going to be significantly less busy than this one and my doctor finally put me on anxiety/depression medication, I might be able to work more than ever! Here's hoping!**

 **See you next chapter!**


	5. The Twins Fight

**I went from working full time in the summer to being a full time student for the rest of the year. Ugh… why can't people just let me write?**

 **Thank you to AmbertheCat, SpringBorn, LadyAmazon, LMarie99, Shadowing, M.v.j.M, ktmyldy28, Momochan77, Wonderwomanbatmanfan, bunnygirl2203, Cookies16, Ghostisreading, SabrinaTeenagedB, bootskitty328, musiqueismyjam1041, Alexis996, kingdomhearts49120, blackrose13666, and two guests for your reviews! I'm so sorry for the long wait, and hopefully it never gets to be that long again! Hope you like this chapter!**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own OHSHC. All I own is a dog who barks at every little thing.**

* * *

The Twins Fight

Jacklyn took a deep breath before walking into classroom 2-A, making the conversations inside stop in an instant. She licked her lower lip and did her best to avoid the stares from her classmates, quickly making her way to her seat and trying to look as small as possible. Giggles and whispers followed behind her, and she was far too anxious to check to see if their accompanying smiles were kind or malicious.

As she walked to her seat, her desk neighbors also paused their own conversation to look at her. Jacklyn's heart clenched, but she managed to give her friend and her new boyfriend a small smile. Tamaki beamed back and waved, looking frantically between his two friends. He wasn't alone, either. The whole room appeared to have taken in a sudden breath as Jacklyn neared Kyoya's desk. Kyoya was the only one who didn't appear bothered by the attention, smiling softly up at his girlfriend in such a way that Jacklyn felt her chest constrict. In the good way.

"Good morning, Jacklyn."

Jacklyn blushed heavily and sat down at her own desk, peeking at Kyoya through her eyelashes, whispering out a shy, "Good morning, Kyoya."

She had no idea what she wanted to say to him. They'd texted each other until midnight last night, but in real life it felt… awkward. And everyone kept _staring at them._ Tamaki wasn't helping, smiling rather dumbly as he looked back and forth between the two of them. He looked far too happy considering he wasn't actually a part of the relationship. Jacklyn shut her eyes and focused on breathing evenly.

 _We're fine. I'm fine. Everything is fine. Kyoya is acting calm. He'll know how to handle everything and help me through the attention. My rock in stormy weather._ Jacklyn barely suppressed a giggle. _Gosh, that was so sappy. And I'm already feeling better. It'll all work out. We won't draw any extra attention to ourselves, and soon everyone else will lose interest and-_

"Jacklyn?" Kyoya reached across the aisle and gripped her hand, causing Jacklyn's eyes to fly open as she jolted. He gently ran a thumb over the back of her hand, smile as soft as ever. Jacklyn felt a shiver run up her arm and down her spine. It was like the entire room was holding its breath.

"I was wondering if you'd be okay with me calling you Jac-chan from now on?"

Her heart stuttered to a stop in her chest. The hand that wasn't in Kyoya's grip clutched the side of her desk. She was sure her face was incredibly red, and not just because the whispers around them had suddenly picked back up.

"U-um…"

Swallowing past the lump in her throat, she did her best to look in Kyoya's direction, even if she couldn't quite meet his eye. She licked her lower lip. The nickname… it sounded a little weird coming out of Kyoya's mouth, but it was also a brand new thing, so technically it should... And they _were_ dating. Even if she hadn't expected Kyoya to be into cutesy nicknames... but if he was…

"I mean, I guess that's okay. I don't mind it."

"Okay, Jac-chan."

Jacklyn gave her boyfriend a tentative smile, overwhelmingly grateful when the teacher suddenly walked into the classroom and Kyoya pulled his hand away. Clasping her hands together in her lap, she pressed them together tightly, trying to quell the shaking.

So much for her rock in stormy weather.

*Time Skip*

Jacklyn couldn't focus.

She felt jittery and like she'd been under a microscope for the past eight hours. Whispers had followed her all day, along with a sprinkling of outright glares, and it was slowly getting to be too much. Tamaki had been absolutely no help at all, staring at her and Kyoya with heart eyes if they were within 5 feet of each other.

And then there was Kyoya himself. The slow and steady process into a relationship Jacklyn had expected basically flew out the window that morning. A purple rose slid into her school bag, hand holding in the hallways and through their lunch period, and even sharing each other's lunches had steadily freaked Jacklyn out until she felt like she was going into cardiac arrest.

But hosting hours were proving to be even worse.

After hurrying through a quick song, all Jacklyn wanted to do was run into the kitchen and hide until the following day. She was literally the center of attention in the room, and it was just… too much, too much, _too much-_

Forcing herself to take a deep breath, she stood up from the bench and dove at the nearby couch where Akiko and Ena usually sat. Curled up in the corner with her back protected by soft cushion made it significantly easier to breathe.

After her hands stopped shaking, Jacklyn grabbed her school bag and pulled out her Kanji practice sheets. Perhaps she could lose herself in her studies and relax a bit before her next song. She wished she had brought her headphones to help drown out the way her brain was screaming. But she hadn't, and she'd have to wait until she went home to plug herself into her music and truly relax. For now, she'd just have to make do with what she had.

Unfortunately, it wasn't enough to stop her from jumping a foot in the air when Haruhi tapped her shoulder a few minutes later.

"AAHHH!"

"Sorry! Sorry!"

Jacklyn gasped, leaning forward with her hands on her knees. "Oh my gosh… don't do that."

"I'm sorry! I didn't mean to startle you!"

Taking in another deep breath and letting it out, Jacklyn looked up at her neighbor and offered a small smile. "It's okay. I guess I'm just… a little frazzled."

Haruhi nodded and took a seat on the other side of the couch. "Yeah, I noticed. I actually came over here in case you wanted to… y'know, talk about it?"

"What's to talk about?" Jacklyn balanced her notebook on her knee, trying to remember which kanji she had been practicing before Haruhi showed up. "I'm dating Kyoya, the whole school knows about it, and some girls hate me for it. Nothing I can do about that except wait it out."

"Actually, I meant all the attention Kyoya-senpai's been giving you."

Jacklyn paused in her writing, still staring down at her notebook paper. "Oh, that."

"I didn't think he'd really be into that kind of stuff. Holding hands all the time and sharing lunches. You seemed surprised by it as well."

"I was. I am."

Jacklyn sighed and looked up, finally, glancing at her boyfriend from across the room. Kyoya was at his usual table, and if Jacklyn wasn't mistaken he had a few more guests than usual around him today. Most of the girls were leaning over the table or their armrests, gazing imploringly at Kyoya like he was waxing poetry about the stars. Not liking the uncomfortable twisting in her gut at the sight, Jacklyn returned her gaze to her homework. The recent catfight with Renge had been more than enough fighting over a boy for a lifetime, in her opinion. She wasn't going to start anything if she could avoid it.

Careful to keep her voice steady, Jacklyn muttered, "I don't really know what to think of it. I mean… it's sweet, but I have no idea how to handle all of his attention. Especially not the romantic stuff. It feels almost showy, like it's not meant for the two of us to enjoy. Tamaki gawking at us whenever we're in the same room isn't helping. I dunno, I guess I was expecting something… smaller. More personal. Though, I don't know if my heart could take it."

She could see Haruhi's shadow bob as her friend nodded her head. "So… you're just finding ways to calm down until things settle?"

"Pretty much. I certainly have enough work to occupy my attention."

The two were quiet for a moment, both of them watching as Jacklyn carefully created different kanji pictures in her notebook. Every so often, she'd flip over the page tucked under her right leg, just to make sure she had the figures correct.

"Is this for one of your Kanji quizzes you've told me about?"

"Yeah. I'm ridiculously behind everyone else, so I have to take these remedial quizzes to help catch up. There's a lot I'm still shaky on."

"I understand. English has always been a weakness of mine. I feel like I have to study for hours before I can remember a few words. And that's just writing. Speaking is even worse for me."

"Yeah, it took me two years of studying Japanese before I could speak without stuttering."

"Really? I never would've been able to tell. You're doing really well so far."

Jacklyn gave her friend a quick smile. For someone who claimed to be useless when it came to social situations, Haruhi certainly knew the best thing to say.

"Did you hear what went on with me, Hikaru and Kaoru?"

"Do you mean when you said their guessing game was stupid or how they photoshopped you half naked for the guests?"

Haruhi coughed suddenly, just as red in the face as Jacklyn had been all day. "Uh, I was referring to the second bit."

"Of course you were."

The pair exchanged a glance before falling into giggles. It was nice, Jacklyn mused, to have a friend around to just poke fun at and relax with. She cast a quick glance around the room and found more than a few unfriendly eyes aimed in her direction.

 _Friends are hard to come by these days._

Shaking the thought out of her mind, Jacklyn turned back to Haruhi. "Yeah, don't worry too much about them. Hikaru and Kaoru are still getting used to you. Give them time, don't let them push you away, and they'll stop terrorizing you soon enough."

"How long did it take before they stopped teasing _you?_ "

"Well, it took nearly three months before they even started _liking_ me, so I can't exactly give you a time table. But if you keep making comments like the one about the 'Which one of us is Hikaru' game, it'll probably take a lot longer that it would."

Haruhi abruptly sat up, obviously confused. "But it's a dumb game! It's so easy!"

"I know. I figured out a cheat sometime last year, but honestly it's not difficult to tell them apart once you get to know them."

"Is that so?"

Turning around in their seats, the girls found themselves under the watchful eyes of the two boys they'd just been discussing. Hikaru and Kaoru were leaning on the back of the couch, propped up with their elbows, and both wearing matching bored expressions. Jacklyn was almost tempted to reach out and poke their noses, if only to prove her point. She, and perhaps no one else, knew that if she poked their noses, Hikaru would attempt to lick her finger in response while Kaoru would scrunch up his nose and pout. Both actions, while cute, would also demonstrate how the two boys had their own personalities beneath their looks.

But she could only imagine how the jealous girls would react, so she didn't, turning back to her homework instead.

Haruhi shrugged from her end of the couch. "It's nothing personal, you two. We just… wait." She suddenly leaned forward, narrowing her eyes and looking between Jacklyn and the twins. "Is that why you were calling me a 'toy'? You're just trying to mess with me because I'm new?"

"No, we meant what we said."

"You're our new source of entertainment."

"Ergo…"

"... a toy."

Jacklyn raised an eyebrow, but before she could ask if that meant she was the "old toy", a deep laugh from the front doors interrupted the conversation. Jacklyn perked up at the dark head poking itself through their doors, happy to see a friendly face.

"Toys? _Toys?_ If toys are what you're looking for, you should come visit my Black Magic club. We've opened a marketplace to the general public for such entertaining purposes…"

"Hi, Nekozawa-senpai!"

At Jacklyn's voice, Nekozawa glanced up so his eyes were partly visible underneath his hood. He flashed a charming smile at the sight of his friend, even his cat puppet taking on a more approachable appearance. "Good afternoon, Jacklyn-san. It is lovely to see you again."

"You too!"

Nekozawa offered another smile before dropping his voice back into his low rumbling. "I see I might be able to offer some entertainment to your friends. If they are interested, I'd be willing to throw in a free Beelzeneff curse doll with their first purchase."

Haruhi slowly eased herself off the couch and went to stand by Jacklyn, so her back was no longer facing the door. "Er… Jacklyn-senpai? Do you know that guy? Why is he talking to us through a crack in the door?"

"Oh, that's Nekozawa-senpai. He's in class 3-D and the President of the Black Magic Club. He also has a medical condition that makes bright lights painful for him, hence the dark cloak and the wig. But don't let his disguise fool you, he's a real sweetheart."

" _Not to everyone…_ "

Jacklyn's heart jumped in her chest for the second time that hour. She and Haruhi turned around to see that Tamaki had snuck up behind them when they weren't paying attention. The blond's face was paler than usual and he was staring intently at Nekozawa from across the room. A quick glance downwards showed that the boy's hands were shaking by his sides.

Jacklyn recovered first, rolling her eyes. "Tamaki, how many times to I have to tell you? Nekozawa-senpai is a good guy. He has nothing against you."

"Wrong. You only say that because you've never been on the receiving end of one of his curses."

Tamaki turned to Haruhi then, gravely explaining his misfortune of being in Nekozawa's crosshairs at the end of the last school year, which earned another eye roll from Jacklyn. No matter how many times it was explained to him, nothing could be said to change Tamaki's fear of the other boy. Which was sad, because if it weren't for Tamaki's fear, Jacklyn had a feeling she'd be able to spend more time with the darkly dressed boy than she did now.

"Your embellishments continue to amaze me, Tamaki."

Jacklyn stiffened in her seat as Kyoya's voice sounded from right behind her, her boyfriend's hand coming down to rest on her shoulder. "As we've tried to tell you before, you were so scared after stepping on Beelzenef that you accidentally walked into the beginning Greek class and took their exam."

"That's not true! It was a curse! I can prove it! I can-"

"If you want to prove the dark powers of Beelzenef..."

Tamaki shrieked, hiding behind Kyoya as Nekozawa approached the group. Jacklyn gave the boy another smile, even if Kyoya's hand on her shoulder was sending jitters throughout her body.

Nekozawa returned Jacklyn's smile before continuing, "... then why don't you buy a curse doll yourself? All you have to do is write the name of someone you hate on his back, and they will be forever haunted with… misfortune."

Jacklyn almost laughed out loud. She knew that the misfortune her friend was speaking of only consisted of untied shoelaces, stubbed toes, and ice cream disasters, but the way he said it was truly haunting. He would make an excellent audio book reader.

"Wow… you sure are dark in more ways than one."

"What would happen if we… lightened you up a bit?"

Jacklyn's eyes went wide at the sight of the twins behind Nekozawa, but she didn't have the time to warn her friend before flashlights were being shone directly in his face. The older boy let out a scream of surprise and pain, his hands coming up to shield his face as he ran for it, tripping over his own two feet and bumping into pillars on the way before escaping the room and slamming the door shut behind him.

For a moment, nothing could be heard other than the calm chatter of the host club's guests. Hikaru and Kaoru switched off their flashlights and glanced at each other. They both gave a shrug. They were expecting something a little more…

"What the hell is wrong with you two?" Jacklyn launched herself to her feet, eyes blazing as she regarded the twins. "Nekozawa-senpai wasn't doing anything wrong and you just… you… I can't believe you would do that! You could've seriously hurt him!"

Hikaru shrugged again, throwing an arm over his brother's shoulder. "We just wanted to see what he'd do."

"That's not an excuse! You knew he doesn't like bright lights and that it was a medical issue, and you _still_ risked hurting him for your amusement! I can't believe you!"

"You said that already."

"Augh!"

Throwing her hands up in the air, Jacklyn pushed the two boys aside and marched back to her piano bench. Sitting down she started angrily shuffling around her music pieces, looking for a fast piece to get her frustrations out. She was so mad… the last time she'd been this mad at the twins they had falsely accused her of betraying the host club. She thought they were past that phase! Pranks were one thing, but what they had done to Nekozawa was just crossing the line!

A quick glance over her shoulder riled Jacklyn up even further. The twins didn't seem bothered in the slightest by Jacklyn's outburst, lounging around on a pair of chairs by the window. Fighting down a scowl, she turned her head back around and began the song. 'Dies Irae', by Mozart, the piano arrangement. One of his few aggressive pieces. Just fast and loud enough that Jacklyn could pound the keys and get her emotions out. Before long, the tension in her shoulders loosened, her mind solely focused on keeping up with the pace of the song.

As she'd hoped for and predicted, by the time she finished the song she was much calmer. Releasing a breath as she bowed politely towards her applauding audience, Jacklyn stood up and wandered back over to Haruhi. The other girl didn't have guests, and Jacklyn found that talking to the only other sane person around was good for her mental health.

Of course, right as she approached, the twins called out from their chairs by the window.

"Hey, Haruhi, can we come over to your place this weekend?"

"No."

"Oh, come on, why not?"

"Because you'll just make fun of me."

"No, we won't. We've been to Jacklyn's apartment before and we were nice about it."

At the admission, Haruhi raised both of her eyebrows in surprise and looked over at her neighbor. She didn't know the Host Club had been at their complex before.

Jacklyn scoffed, folding her arms over her chest. "'Nice' is a rather… nice way of putting it. You forget you two weren't exactly invited."

The twins gasped, standing up from their chairs. "How cold!"

"You seemed okay with it back then!"

"That was before you purposely tried to hurt one of my friends. _And_ before you called every part of my living situation "quaint" since calling it anything else made Tamaki smack you upside the head."

Kaoru screwed his face up in pout before Hikaru elbowed his brother lightly. The two boys exchanged a glance before nodding in sync, pulling out their green caps from their pockets.

"Why don't we settle this with a game?" They plopped their hats on their heads. "If Haruhi can't pick out which one of us is Hikaru, her penalty will be us coming over this weekend."

The girls narrowed their eyes, but didn't protest. Taking that as agreement, Hikaru spun the girls around so he and Kaoru could shuffle themselves. They were careful with how many steps they took and where they took them, a well practiced dance they performed flawlessly.

"Okay! So which one of us is Hikaru?"

Haruhi and Jacklyn turned around slowly, eyes still narrowed in matching glares. Haruhi took one look at the boys and raised a hand to point.

"This one's Kaoru. This one's Hikaru."

"Uh oh, you got it wrong!"

"No, she's right, and you know it." The twins stiffened at Jacklyn's sharp words. Yes, Haruhi had been right, but no one had ever called them out before for lying about the results. No one had ever known the truth enough to call their bluff. Did that mean...

As they stared at Jacklyn, Haruhi lowered her arm and smiled knowingly. "Yeah, I know I'm right. You guys may look alike, but you're very different."

Gasps of amazement followed Haruhi's statement, a few guests approaching the pair of girls, curious as to how they'd beaten the twin's "impossible" game. The guests of the Host Club had played "Which one is Hikaru" ever since the twins joined the club, and never once had someone been so sure of their answer and gotten it _right!_

Jacklyn smiled in triumph. She was still sore about Nekozawa's treatment, so cutting the twin's fun short was a good way of getting back at them. She'd lighten up on them tomorrow, once she had the chance to slip away and check on Nekozawa before going home tonight.

"It's so amazing. How can you tell them apart?"

"Hmm… it's kinda hard to explain since they do almost everything together… but Hikaru's speech and actions make him come across as more mischievous than Kaoru. His humor is just a shade darker. As for how to tell them apart when they're wearing the hats-"

Haruhi fumbled to a stop in her explanation as laughter started up behind her. Glancing over her shoulder, she and the other girls saw Kaoru practically bent in half as he snickered into his hand, muffling himself as best as he could.

"What's so funny, Kaoru?"

Every eye in the vicinity darted over to Hikaru, his posture just as stiff as his question. Jacklyn nervously noticed the way the boy frowned at his still-laughing brother.

"I'm… I'm sorry, Hikaru, I don't mean to laugh. But wow, she really got your number, huh?"

Hikaru's head jerked back, gaping momentarily at his brother before sharply turning up his nose and facing the other direction. "Well, I don't know why that would be funny. I'm honest and I speak my mind and I don't hide my intentions from anyone, like Haruhi said."

"Uh, actually I-"

"It's sneaky people like _Kaoru_ who are the real troublemakers."

Kaoru's laughter cut off abruptly, his smile staying in place just long enough for it to turn sinister before dying altogether. Jacklyn swallowed before tugging at Haruhi's sleeve, pulling her a few steps away from the brothers. Clearly, something unpleasant was about to go down. She was definitely going to have to pay Nekozawa a visit later to see if he had pulled something as payback for the Flashlight Incident.

"Don't turn this on me, Hikaru. After all, I'm always the one going along with _your_ plans."

"I might be the one to come up with the ideas, but you're the one who gets really into them. If you hate them so much, no one's forcing you to come along."

"If I let you go off on your own you'd be dragging our family name through the mud within a week."

Jacklyn half-heartedly raised one of her hands, trying to get the boy's attention, but her tongue seemed to be stuck to the roof of her mouth. Her heart pounded solidly in her chest at the mere _idea_ of speaking up, even if it was to try to break up the mounting fight. She might still be irritated from how they had treated Nekozawa earlier, and she was sure Haruhi felt the same with the photoshop incident, but that didn't mean the twins weren't still her friends. Hikaru and Kaoru reminded her so much of her own little brother, Alec, and she hated to see them so upset. Especially with each other.

"U-um…" Damn her anxiety! She had to say something! Why did her throat feel like it was closing up?

A gentle touch to her shoulder pulled Jacklyn's attention away from the shouting boys in front of her. Kyoya quietly stepped up to her side, wrapping his arm around her waist while watching the twins with an impassive look. But Jacklyn knew better. She saw the subtle frown pulling at the corner of Kyoya's mouth and how his eyes never once left the bickering pair. He was worried, too.

Jacklyn turned back to the fight, which was escalating faster than she'd anticipated. Bringing her hands back to her side, she pressing herself a little closer to Kyoya's side. In the back of her mind, she couldn't help but note that she preferred their current position to holding hands. Not to say she probably couldn't get used to holding hands, but it was odd to envision Kyoya enjoying such a display. This… this felt more like him. Private.

"THAT'S IT! WE'RE THROUGH!"

Blinking back into the real world, Jacklyn and the rest of the host club watched helplessly as Hikaru and Kaoru stormed out of the music room, still screaming at each other to let the other leave first. As their shouting slowly faded on the other side of the doors, Tamaki quickly dismissed the guests for the afternoon, most of the girls agreeing without fuss.

Jacklyn took a deep breath in and out. Today had been a rollercoaster of emotions. But, at least it was over. And she had discovered something about her and Kyoya's relationship. She smiled shyly to herself. Perhaps things weren't as rocky as she first thought they'd be?

Gathering her courage, she went to turn to Kyoya and tell him about her preference for their current position, and how holding hands was still awkward for her, but caught a glimpse of something out of the corner of her eye. On the other side of the room, near the windows, was a guest. Medium height, brown hair in a ponytail over her shoulder, a cute blue ribbon tied around the end of her hair, and, oh yeah, a heavy glare focused on Jacklyn's face.

Jacklyn couldn't help but remember seeing said girl sitting at Kyoya's table half an hour ago, batting her eyelashes and giving Jacklyn's boyfriend the biggest "Doe-eyes" she'd ever seen.

Courage and heart plummeting to her feet, she gently eased herself out from Kyoya's grip, wishing her boyfriend a good night before heading back to her piano. If she was quick, she could pop by the Black Magic Club and see if Nekozawa had anything to do with the misfortune now plaguing the host club before she had to go home.

She needed some time in a place where no one hated her.

*Time Skip*

Sitting in class the next day, Jacklyn couldn't make up her mind whether the day was shaping up to be better or worse than the previous one.

On one hand, her brand new relationship with Kyoya was no longer the main gossip at school. Everyone was too busy talking about the Hitachiin's fight. Apparently the two boys had even dyed their hair, Hikaru now sporting hot pink while Kaoru rocked a bright blue, and had gotten into a shouting match before class started, throwing things at each other across their classroom.

The rumor sounded so far-fetched to Jacklyn that if Kyoya hadn't given his word that it was true, she wouldn't have believed it at all.

But Jacklyn's life could never be simple, so her little bit of good news was also really, really bad news. Jacklyn hated seeing her friends fight. She'd dealt with enough similar situations back in America to know she wanted the disagreement between Hikaru and Kaoru over with as soon as possible. Especially now that she knew the fight was real and not something Nekozawa had cooked up as a form of retribution.

Oh, and there was another negative that chipped away at the positive of the day. Even though most of the attention was off of Jacklyn and Kyoya, there were still plenty of jealous girls who could not be distracted so easily. Girls who didn't bother to hide their glares as Kyoya led Jacklyn down the hallway to the refractory, the couple hand in hand. Jacklyn couldn't do much about it other than duck her head and stay as close to Kyoya as possible, hoping that no one would try to trip her as they walked.

Unbeknownst to her, Kyoya had noticed the glares as well. He had for some time, even before they had officially gotten together. It irritated him to no end that some of their classmates were so stupid that they'd think Kyoya would be with anyone else other than Jacklyn. Didn't they realize that if Kyoya hadn't been 100% sure that Jacklyn was "it" for him, he wouldn't have asked her out?

"Kyoya! Did you remember to tell Honey-senpai and Mori-senpai to meet us at the refractory?"

"Yes, Tamaki. I told them all about your plan."

"And you didn't tell Haruhi, right?"

"No, I did not. But that doesn't mean she won't come by herself. She seemed quite worried about the twins last night."

Tamaki let out a little wail, grabbing at his hair as he went off on a tangent about Haruhi being too reckless, cueing Kyoya to ignore his friend yet again. Sweeping his gaze around the hallway, Kyoya watched as the students around them quickly averted their gazes, a few of Kyoya's guests adopting less constipated expressions.

Kyoya mentally preened, glad that he still gave off an air of control despite the situation. But Jacklyn was still staring at the ground. He squeezed her hand in an attempt to share comfort, but couldn't help but feel incredibly out of his depth.

He had been doing his best to act like he was completely calm and unbothered by the stares and whispers that followed behind him and Jacklyn, but it was difficult. How was Kyoya supposed to act like he had everything under control when he felt like his heart would beat out of his chest every time Jacklyn so much as walked into the room?

It was bizarre… Jacklyn made him want to do things he normally wouldn't associate with new relationships. He wanted to hold her constantly. Keep her pressed to his side, his arm wrapped around her waist. He wanted to prove 24/7 that Jacklyn was actually his and he was hers and fend off whoever dared disagree with that fact. He found himself wishing he could whisk her off to a private date at the end of each day, where the two of them could be alone for hours on end and just enjoy each other's company. Or that they could fall asleep, curled up together in a hammock with too many pillows and a blanket wrapped around their legs, Jacklyn's head tucked under Kyoya's chin as she breathed heavily, Kyoya's arms wrapped tightly around her waist like he was worried she would slip away in his sleep.

 _No._ Kyoya shook his head aggressively, abruptly cutting off his daydreaming. _That is too much for only being together for two days. It's almost obsessive. Clingy at best._

Jacklyn was sensitive, Kyoya reminded himself. "An anxious mess" as she had dubbed herself not too long ago. The last thing Kyoya needed to do was scare her out of this relationship. He would take baby steps to make sure she was okay with them being together before slowly amping it up. So, even though he didn't like how sweaty his palm felt when they held hands or the cheap, generic tone that came with the nickname "Jac-chan", Kyoya wasn't doing it for himself. He cared so much for Jacklyn… the last thing he wanted to do was overstep his boundaries.

*\/*

They heard the argument long before they entered the refractory. Jacklyn didn't recognize half the words Hikaru and Kaoru were shouting, but from the ones she did, it sounded like they were trying to order lunch. Only, they were still in unison. And still fighting.

Walking into the refractory, the three 2nd year students watched for a moment as the twins slowly went from shouting at the poor chefs behind the counter to screaming at each other instead. Every person in the refractory was watching the fight, which was something of significance given the size of the room. Even Honey-senpai, Mori-senpai, and Haruhi, all of whom Jacklyn had just noticed were standing nearby, were watching the action with expressions of sadness or disbelief.

Jacklyn nibbled at the inside of her cheek as the twins started wrestling each other for the first plate being placed on the counter. How was this situation going to go down? Tamaki had practically forced her and Kyoya to follow him here, and apparently he had come up with a plan the night before, but Jacklyn had no clue what it was. Was he going to try talking them down? Thinking back to the twin's history with Tamaki, that wasn't going to fly. Was he expecting her or Kyoya to do the talking? Just the thought of either of them getting involved in the ongoing fight made Jacklyn's stomach churn.

A loud sigh from Tamaki had Jacklyn tucking herself closer to Kyoya's side.

"I thought we'd find you here. Causing such a ruckus in public… have you no pride in our name?" Tamaki pouted as the twins continued slowly moving down the line, ignoring him and spitting insults at each other the whole way down. Not even Honey-senpai with his cuteness and "make-up cake" managed to ease the tension.

Gently nudging Kyoya's arm, Jacklyn glanced at her boyfriend. "We're not going to solve anything while we're here, are we?"

"Unfortunately not. I'm afraid anything we do in a public place would be for naught. The twins are too stubborn to forgive and forget outside of a private setting."

"So what are we here for, then?"

Kyoya gave her a smirk. "To eat our lunch, of course. And perhaps keep the others out of harm's way."

Jacklyn, for the first time that day, smiled. That sounded more like the Kyoya she knew and liked. "Then I guess I should let you go get your lunch. I'll find a seat with Haruhi."

The two released each other's hands and went off in separate directions, something Jacklyn instantly regretted. As soon as she turned to walk towards Haruhi, she noticed someone glaring at her. In fact, it was the same girl she had seen glaring at her last night in the club room. Today, the girl had a purple ribbon tied around her hair. Jacklyn couldn't help but connect the ribbon color to Kyoya's rose color.

Averting her eyes quickly, Jacklyn hurried over to Haruhi's side and nudged her shoulder. "Hey, want to go find someplace to sit?"

"Yes, please. I normally eat in my classroom, so this will be a first for me."

Jacklyn smiled as she led Haruhi over to a nearby table. "Don't worry too much about it. I thought people would stare at me for having a bento my first time eating here, but it's not that uncommon. Of course, everyone else's packed lunches are super fancy… regardless, it's fine."

"Speaking of things being fine," Haruhi trailed off for a moment as the girls sat down and made themselves comfortable before continuing, "how are things with you and Kyoya-senpai? I've noticed that you two are temporarily out of the spotlight."

"Yeah, temporarily. I don't even know anymore. There are things I want to tell him, but I can't help but feel scrutinized. Kyoya has a more public life than I do. What if I screw something up for him? I have to match Japanese customs and rich people customs at the same time while being an outsider to both. It's a rather daunting task."

"Sounds like it. But Kyoya-senpai does like you. That much I can tell. You really should talk to him. It would probably help you both in the long run."

Jacklyn let out a breath, tugging at the simple floral wrap around her bento box. She did want to talk to Kyoya about their relationship. They were just starting out, so she knew communication was a big deal. But when would they find the time and place? That was the issue...

Before she could say so out loud, the chair on Haruhi's other side was pulled out. "Hey, Haruhi. Hey Jacklyn-senpai. Mind if I join you?" It was Hikaru, sitting down before either girl could say a word. The pink haired boy practically tossed his tray of food on the table, giving it a disdainful look before pointing at Haruhi's bento.

"What do you have there?"

"Um… yesterday's leftovers. And a rolled omelette."

"Hm. What about you, Jacklyn-senpai?"

"Tuna rice balls, primarily."

Hikaru dropped his hand and gave them both a pouting expression. "Do either of you want to switch with me? I had to order something different from Kaoru so I got food I don't really like."

Jacklyn rolled her eyes and shifted her bento a little further away from the other boy. Thankfully for his bodily health, Hikaru seemed more interested in Haruhi's lunch, swapping it with his without waiting for Haruhi to agree. Despite Haruhi's obvious annoyance at Hikaru's disregard for her opinion, it was hard to miss just how big her eyes got when looking at the rich food now in front of her. Even Jacklyn couldn't keep down a smile as she watched Haruhi take her first bite.

"Taste good? Do you want to try some of my lunch next?"

Jacklyn and Haruhi both jumped in their seats as Kaoru suddenly sat across from them. He wasn't even looking at Hikaru, but Hikaru was definitely looking at him. Jacklyn and Haruhi exchanged a quick glance with each other as Kaoru looked down at his lunch.

They were about to breach the wall of the metaphorical hurricane.

"Here." Kaoru suddenly leaned a bit over the table, cupping Haruhi's chin to tilt her face upwards. "Say 'ahhh'!"

Suddenly there was a flash of pink and whatever Kaoru was trying to spoon-feed Haruhi disappeared into Hikaru's mouth. Jacklyn's stomach dropped to her toes as she leaned back in her seat. Glancing around for help, she immediately noticed Kyoya standing by a nearby table, his food already set down while he watched. Catching her eye, Kyoya waved her over.

Heart going all warm and mushy knowing that her boyfriend was trying to protect her, Jacklyn quickly scooped up her own lunch and escaped from the table, calling out to Haruhi that Kyoya was calling for her. Haruhi gave her a desperate look, but before she could move, Kaoru was throwing a bowl of pudding at Hikaru's face.

Fortunately, when Hikaru dodged, the food didn't hit Haruhi.

Unfortunately, it didn't hit Haruhi because Hikaru had pushed Tamaki in the way instead.

"That was really poor timing on Tamaki's part," Jacklyn muses as she sits beside Kyoya. She continued to watch the newly unfolding food fight between the twins until she saw Haruhi escape, taking her lunch with her.

"Yes, I assume Tamaki had been hoping to take Haruhi's lunch for his own and just wasn't smart enough to know to keep away."

"Like you?" Jacklyn gave Kyoya a small smile, her fingers finally pulling away the fabric around her bento. "Are you saying you wouldn't have braved a little food fight to rescue me if I was in Haruhi's position?"

"I wouldn't need to. You're smart enough to know when to dismiss yourself from a situation such as that."

"You speak so highly of me, Mr. Ootori. It's almost as if you like me or something."

Kyoya finally turned to face Jacklyn fully, setting his chopsticks down as he says, "I do. I really do, D- Jac-chan." All at once, he turned away again, obviously trying to hide the pink blush Jacklyn had seen lighting up his face. She felt something both tightened and loosened in her chest, and it made her reach out and grab Kyoya's sleeve.

"Kyoya? What were you about to call me?"

"Nothing. It's nothing, Jac-chan."

"Kyoya…" Jacklyn looked down at her own lunch, which didn't seem as appetizing any longer, what with her stomach so clenched up. "Kyoya, maybe… maybe the pet name 'Jac-chan' isn't for us."

That sure got Kyoya's attention. He quickly turned his head back to Jacklyn, mouth open, but Jacklyn beat him to it.

"It's not that I think I'd never get used to it if you really want to call me that, but… I don't know. I feel like there are others to choose from that might sound a little… more us. You know? Or, if I'm not making sense, I'm sorry." Jacklyn let go of Kyoya's sleeve, suddenly more than a little anxious that she was just babbling and making Kyoya uncomfortable. In fact, she was so sure of that idea that when Kyoya quickly grabbed her hand and turned his whole body to face her, she nearly knocked her chair backwards.

Kyoya held her right hand between both of his, grey eyes holding her gaze with their usual intensity that both unnerved and encouraged her.

"Jacklyn, I was about to call you 'Darling'. I didn't, because in my mind, it sounds like a word too claiming to be used between such a new couple. But it still feels right to call you that. If you feel that name is also not quite right, I am willing to try others, but I do agree that 'Jac-chan' is almost… too generic for you." He squeezed her hand once. "Thank you for speaking up."

For a moment, Jacklyn could only open and close her mouth, not sure what to say.

Then, she smiled.

*Time Skip*

The rhythm of the cheerful tune Jacklyn is humming doesn't match up with her steps, but she can't be bothered to change her song. She was happy and almost giddy with relief, so it made sense that Disney songs were just bursting out of her. Smile stretched wide over her face, Jacklyn fought the urge to start skipping. She knew not all of her problems were over yet, but this was still the best she'd been feeling in the past 36 hours.

The conversation she'd had with Kyoya over lunch had rolled around in the back of her mind throughout Jacklyn's afternoon classes, usually accompanied by the echo of "Darling", which in turn made Jacklyn smile like a dope down at her textbooks. They hadn't had the time to discuss everything about their relationship over lunch, of course, but that wasn't as concerning as it was yesterday. Because now Jacklyn knew that Kyoya _wanted_ to listen to her and talk it out. It made her feel warm and fuzzy on the inside. Especially when Kyoya did things like gently caress her hand when Jacklyn had to stay behind and talk to their teacher before he headed off to the club room.

 _Stupid anxiety, making me worry so much_. A giggle escaped Jacklyn's lips as she rounded the corner into the North hallway, using her left hand to swish her dress skirt around while her right spun her school bag back and forth. She shut her eyes and made a little twirl. No one would be around to see her acting like this anyways, and she felt so giddy and happy, there was no way she'd be able to hide it! Everything was just-

Out of nowhere, something heavy crashed into Jacklyn's left side. A gasp escaped her lips as she tumbled sideways, dropping her bag and flailing her arms about to try to catch herself against the wall. But there was no wall. Only an open door that Jacklyn couldn't ever remember seeing open before. Foot catching on her school bag, she tumbled into the dark room and hit the ground, her right knee hitting the tiled floor first.

Whimpering out a small "ow…", Jacklyn pushed herself up and turned to face the door just in time to watch it slam shut. The sudden darkness made Jacklyn's chest seize up. Crawling over to the door, she grabbed the handle just in time to feel the door shiver as something was pushed against it.

"No…" Jacklyn turned the handle, and while it wasn't locked, the door wouldn't budge. She shoved harder, shoes sliding against the floor as her heart hammered faster in her chest. "No… no! No, let me out! Please! Stop this, let me out! No!"

Jacklyn pressed her ear against the door, sniffling to herself as she tried to listen. But there was nothing. No footsteps. No anything. With a loud cry, Jacklyn started pounding on the door with her fists, tears starting to pour down her cheeks.

"No! No! Someone help! Please! Somebody! Help me! Let me out!"

Her heart was in her throat. She couldn't see. She couldn't breathe!

"Help! Kyoya, _help!_ "

*In Music Room #3*

Tamaki sank back in his chair, hand coming up to rub across his forehead. "This is getting ridiculous. How long are those two going to keep up their silly feud?"

"No idea. But if it keeps up much longer, we'll have to officially stop offering their services to the guests." Kyoya gave his calculator a passing glance but neglected to pick it up, not quite in the mood for depressing numbers. "Perhaps we should consider banning them both from the club entirely until they resolve their personal issues? Otherwise we risk the threat of them accidentally hurting a third party with their physical violence."

Tamaki groaned and fell forward, resting his upper body over the tablecloth like he was about to take a nap. Further along down the table, Haruhi looked around for a moment before asking, "Are you guys still planning on trying to make the twins stop yourself? Maybe we should leave them alone?"

"Haruhi, of course-ack!"

Tamaki flailed his arms around, trying to remove Kyoya's hand which was currently pressing Tamaki's face against the table. Ignoring the other, Kyoya adjusted his glasses before responding, "It's difficult to say at the moment, Haruhi. I did mentioned to Jacklyn earlier that if Tamaki still intends to make us interfere with the fight, we'd have to do so in a more private place, as the twins are both rather prideful and will likely refuse to offer each other true apologies when around other people."

Kyoya stopped talking and let Honey pick up the thread, explaining to Haruhi how the twins had never fought before, at least not that he had noticed. Kyoya released Tamaki's head to let him contribute to the conversation, but for some reason found his own interest wandering.

Okay, it wasn't just "some reason". Jacklyn should've arrived by now. She had only needed to ask their Japanese grammar teacher when her next kanji quiz would be. It shouldn't have taken her more than two minutes… so where was she? Deciding to go look for her just in case something happened, Kyoya waited for Tamaki to stop flailing his arms around before standing up, straightening out his jacket as he did.

"Well, if we've come to the decision to leave them alone for now, I'm going to go see if I can find Jacklyn. If she's somehow gotten caught up in another one of the twin's showdowns, she might need backup."

Tamaki smiled at his friend cheekily, resting his chin on one hand while the other playful waved Kyoya out of the room. "Suuure, Kyoya. Well, don't let me stop you. Have fun finding her!"

Kyoya gave his friend an odd look before walking out of the room. Sometimes, Tamaki was the strangest person he knew.

"Oh, Ootori-san!"

Kyoya gave a hum as he turned to face the girl standing behind him. It was Satori Kiki, one of his 1st year guests. She was new, her first meeting having only been a month ago, and she was still learning how a host club operated. For the heiress to a well-known children's toy manufacturer, she gave a rather wicked glare to anyone who joined a conversation between her and Kyoya.

Her sudden appearance sent a warning bell off in the back of Kyoya's head.

"Satori-san, what a pleasure to see you this afternoon. Unfortunately, the Host Club is closed for today, what with the unfortunate disagreement going on between two of our hosts at the moment. Please feel free to check our availability tomorrow, but I'm afraid that for now I must-" Kyoya went to turn away, but a hand on his bicep stopped him. He suddenly found Satori standing in front of him, her face far too close as she stared up at him.

"Wait…"

*With Jacklyn*

Jacklyn was all cried out. Her cheeks were damp, her face probably all puffed up, and her hair was no doubt a mess. She had no idea how long she'd been trapped, but it might as well have been an eternity. The overhead light for the closet she was in didn't work for some stupid, stupid reason, and her phone was in her bag, which was still out in the hallway.

Now sitting with her back to the door, Jacklyn scrubbed at her cheeks with her palms and tried to think rationally. There wasn't much she could do but wait for someone to walk by and notice her bag, assuming whoever trapped her didn't take off with it. But even if they had, there was still whatever was blocking the door to consider. Also, from the strong smell of cleaning supplies, she had to assume she was stuck in some form of janitor's supply room. Eventually, someone would come around. But there was no telling how long that would take. When did the janitors clean the hallways and windows? Jacklyn really hoped it was overnight, and not during the weekends. But she was just overthinking things. She wouldn't really have to wait that long to be let out. The host club should realize she was missing soon and Kyoya would come looking… right?

The sound of something moving on the other side of the door caught Jacklyn's attention, making her perk up and turn around on her knees. "Hello? Is someone there?"

"Jacklyn?"

"Kyoya!"

It took almost a full minute for Kyoya to move whatever was blocking the door to the side. By the time he opened the door, Jacklyn was on her feet and crying again, diving into her boyfriend's arms without hesitation.

"Kyoya! Thank you, thank you! I didn't know how long I'd be in there and I didn't have my phone and no one knew where I was! How did you find me? It was so dark and scary, oh, thank you, thank you!"

Kyoya held her tight as she cried, one of his hands stroking the back of her head as he tried to shush her. It took a few tries, but eventually Jacklyn managed to calm down, hiccuping a bit into the fabric of Kyoya's jacket as she slowly tilted her head back to peer at Kyoya's face. He offered her a small smile and raised a hand to wipe at the new tear tracks running down her face.

"Are you alright?" Kyoya's thumb stroked once more down Jacklyn's cheek, making her shiver in his hold. "When I heard what Satori-san did I came as fast as I could. Are you hurt anywhere?"

"I'm okay... what do you mean by 'heard what Satori-san did'?"

Kyoya sighed, dropping his hand from her face. "I should have suspected something like this would happen. Satori-san is… _was_ one of my newer guests and appears to have some jealousy issues. Apparently she came to her senses after she arrived at the host club doors and noticed I was leaving, obviously to go find you. She confessed to her deed and told me where to find you, as well as giving herself a ban from the club before I could ban her myself."

Jacklyn listened with a slightly agape mouth, unsure of what to think. As she processed, Kyoya scooped up her bag from the floor and regarded the desk that had been in front of the janitor door. After a few seconds, he shook his head and returned to Jacklyn's side, winding his free arm around her waist and gently leading her down the hall, back towards the club room.

*In Music Room #3*

When Kyoya opened the doors to the clubroom, Jacklyn was too mentally exhausted to be surprised by what was on the other side. Apparently, in the time it took for Kyoya to find, free, and lead Jacklyn back to the music room, the twins had shown up. Judging by the large pile of furniture and the heavy breathing from both Hikaru and Kaoru, it hadn't taken very long for another fight to start up again.

Jacklyn and Kyoya stood in the doorway for a few seconds to take in the view before quietly joining the rest of the host club who were standing nearby, staring at the twins in shock. Even Mori was showing just a hint of concern in his eyebrows as he looked between the twins. Haruhi was the only member to look over at Jacklyn and Kyoya, her eyes widening even more when she noticed Jacklyn's pale complexion.

She mouthed a quick, 'what happened'? Jacklyn just shook her head.

'I'll tell you later.'

"Um, are you two quite finished?"

At Tamaki's complaint, both twins turned towards him with absolutely _lethal_ glares, Hikaru even growling a bit. To his credit, Tamaki appeared unaffected, frowning and taking a step forward.

"In the past 24 hours, you two have disgraced our name as a host club, upset our guests, created a huge mess in the cafeteria, and demolished our club room. I mean, don't you two have anything better to do?"

"Anything _better?_ HA!" Hikaru sneered at his brother, fists shaking at his side. "Of course I have a million other things I want to do besides look at Kaoru everyday, don't you get it? If he left me alone I wouldn't have to get so upset! The truth is that I hate being mistaken for you every day, Kaoru! Why won't you just get out of my life!"

Jacklyn felt her chest tighten uncomfortably right above her heart. If she hadn't already cried so much within the past half hour, she would be crying again. Her mental state just wasn't right for this kind of a situation. With a soft groan, she shut her eyes and pressed herself closer to Kyoya's side.

But she could still hear Kaoru as the boy grumbled, "You took the words right out of my mouth, but I bet you didn't consider I'd buy _this!_ Beelzenef the Curse Doll!" There was a rustle of fabric and a scream from Tamaki somewhere to Jacklyn's left, but she didn't open her eyes, even as Kaoru continued on. "I'm gonna write your name on the back, Hikaru. From now on, your life will be full of nothing but sorrow and misfortune- _OUCH!_ "

"Hey- _OW!_ "

"Knock it off already!"

Kyoya's arm tightened a bit around Jacklyn's waist as she looked up at Haruhi's voice. Her friend and neighbor was standing above the twins, who had somehow been knocked to the ground, the wooden Beelzenef doll in her hand. She couldn't see Haruhi's expression from this angle, but judging by the twin's faces, it was rather frightening.

Haruhi lifted the doll up, looking like she was about to smack the twins in the face with it. "Are you two that dumb? You _never_ bring something like this into a petty squabble! _Ever!_ What, someone gets on your nerves and you decide you want their life ruined? What kind of sicko would consider that to be a healthy reaction! Now both of you better suck it up and apologize to each other or I won't be friends with either of you. I only invite _non-fighting_ people over to my house!"

The room was quiet once more, everyone gawking at Haruhi, Jacklyn included. That was the angriest she had ever heard her friend before. She was almost intimidated, but settled for being impressed. Especially considered Haruhi appeared to have struck the twins dumb.

But then they smiled.

"So… if we make up, we can come over to your place?" Slowly, like they had all the time in the world, the twins stood up from the floor, matching smiles in place as they looked down at Haruhi. "That's what you just said, _right, Haruhi?_ "

"What? I just… _what?_ "

With a flourish worthy of Tamaki, Hikaru reached forward and flipped the wooden doll Haruhi was holding around, so she could read the back. Haruhi made a slight choking sound as she did, which prompted the twins to lean back and laugh uproariously. Immediately the rest of the club ran forwards. Some, like Honey and Tamaki, began to loudly and angrily berate the twins for faking the whole time, while others like Mori and Jacklyn to keep Haruhi steady as the poor girl swayed a bit on her feet, Kyoya trailing behind them all at a more controlled pace.

Honey, swinging Usa-chan through the air so his ears were smacking against the twins pants, yelled, "You gotta be kidding me you mean you guys weren't fighting this whole time?"

"No. We were just bored."

Jacklyn mouthed the word 'bored' to herself before she turned around sharply, giving Haruhi's arm a reassuring squeeze as she returned to Kyoya's side. "I think that's my limit for drama today. I need to go home and process everything."

"Agreed. Give me a second to grab my things and I'll walk you out."

If Jacklyn could physically recreate the "heart eyes" she had seen in various animes and mangas, she would do it. But since that look wasn't possible in the real world, she just settled for rocking back and forth on her heels, smiling sweetly after Kyoya as he walked off to a nearby table.

"Um, is this a bad time?"

Jumping at the voices behind her, Jacklyn spun around to see the twins right behind her. Despite everything, she couldn't deny how nice it was that they weren't at each other's throats any more. But she was still upset about the lie, so she frowned at them both as she asked, "What?

Kaoru was the first to break their eye contact, glancing towards the right before slowly pulling the dummy curse doll out from behind his back. Hikaru crumbled next, scuffing his left shoe against the floor before taking in a slow breath.

"When we were coming up with the script last night… we thought about what you said earlier that day, when we shoved flashlights in Nekozawa-senpai's face. You… were right. It was a mean trick, and he didn't deserve that. So, when we were buying the curse doll…"

Hikaru's face at that point was a dark pink, matching nicely with his hair. It was cute, and Jacklyn wasn't surprised when Kaoru finished his brother's sentence with, "We made sure to apologize for what we did. And we actually bought this doll for you, since we know you're friends with Nekozawa-senpai."

"Just don't write our names on the back."

"Please."

Jacklyn let Kaoru gently place the wooden doll in her hands. She rolled it around a little, tracing the word "blank" which was written on the back as well as Beelzenef's pointy ears with her fingers before cupping the body in both hands, like she was scooping water. With its little wooden arms stretched out, Jacklyn could almost imagine the little cat was asking for a hug.

Hikaru and Kaoru were still standing nervously in front of Jacklyn, waiting for her reaction. While they might know how a fake argument ended, how would a real one? They had been theorizing on it all night long.

But neither boy had expected it to end with Jacklyn giggling and throwing her arms around their shoulders for a hug. Sure, the sudden move made the twins knock heads behind her, but in the grand scheme of things… perhaps they deserved it.

*\/*

"Today the pink one is Kaoru, and Hikaru is the blue one. You two switched colors for the day, hm?" With a smirk that spoke of high personal satisfaction, Haruhi turned on her heel and walked away, leaving behind two unimpressed twins and some confused guests. Nearby, sitting at her piano bench, Jacklyn shook her head and went back to organizing her selections for the day. She was sure the twins would go back to their regular hair color by Monday, when the novelty wore off, but for the time being, she was starting to get used to the flamboyant colors.

"Jacklyn? Do you have a moment?"

"Always, Kyoya." Jacklyn shifted slightly to her left, giving Kyoya room to sit down in his usual place on her bench. As he got comfortable, Jacklyn waited for the feeling of nervousness to rise up in her belly from being so close to her boyfriend, but it didn't appear. With an easy smile, she tilted her head to the side and smiled up at Kyoya's face. "What's up?"

Kyoya's eyes were soft, and he took his time to study Jacklyn's face before answering, "I was wondering if you would accompany me tonight for dinner. I know you're not a fan of high class places, but I do know of this one ramen shop downtown with excellent pork ramen."

"Now I think you're just exploiting my love of food to take me places," Jacklyn teased, but deep down she was incredibly grateful that her boyfriend knew her so well. So well, that she barely even had a moment to be nervous about their first real "date" before he was reassuring her. "Still, I'm not one to turn down food… do they have pork ramen?"

Kyoya smiled, one hand coming down to rest atop of Jacklyn's. "They do. I made sure, Darling."

Jacklyn gave a giggle at the nickname, turning her hand around to give Kyoya's a squeeze. "Well then, I accept your invitation. It's a date."

* * *

 **Uuuugh… I'm sick. I'm tired. And completely swamped with homework and getting ready to study abroad. But I finished this chapter! I did! And I actually like how it went down. Suppose that's all I can ask for.**

 **Anyways, I hope y'all liked it!**

 **See you next chapter!**


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